Transatlantic Evolution
by Kittie La Rue
Summary: A young mother & her baby are running from a group of mutants with no idea why they are being targeted. The XMen come to the rescue, & they move into the XMansion but more lies in store for them than they might expect. Remy,Bobby,JP,Warren,Hank,Rogue.
1. The Girl

_Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, unfortunately. They belong to Marvel; Stan Lee IS God and I am eternally grateful he created them. I just borrowed them; I get no monetary compensation for my pains, just the sad manic glee I get from wonderful, wonderful people reviewing me. So, please don't sue, broke student and all, I haven't got a lot you'd want. _

_And please, leave a review. Let me know what you think, good or bad, I don't mind; how else do we learn without constructive criticism? All reviewers get a virtual "Chocolate Fish" in honour of my being presently in New Zealand and having discovered these delicious sweeties/lollies/candies. This is my first fic so any feedback is GREATLY appreciated. _

'_Beth', 'Isabelle' and a multitude of other more minor characters belong to me inc. 'Carrie' and Beth's family and friends. _

_MUCH gratitude to Sophy, my wonderful friend, your input is so very much appreciated; as is allowing me to beta the workings of your marvellous mind. A great big THANKS mate!_

_A/N: This is AU and I have messed with the timeline a bit so that it fits. Sorry. Well, it's mostly just that Gambit's entire involvement with the X-Men has been condensed into one year, including Rogue/Antarctica. _

Chapter One: The Girl

The girl stepped off the bus and onto the dusty road, wearing black tailored dungarees with enormously baggy legs and carrying a baby strapped to her front. She turned towards the café, stretching from her long journey and blinking in the pale late-September sunlight. She wore her hair swept up into a simple ponytail, unknowingly enhancing her youthful appearance. She had a bag slung around her, looping underneath the sleeping infant, snuggled into her mother's warmth. She brushed a hand across her tired eyes and brushed back the wispy tendrils of her dark brunette hair which had escaped their bonds. Pale skin added to the air of fatigue surrounding the young woman, only the classic English Rose complexion colouring her cheeks preventing from her looking in even worse health. She looked around, taking in her surroundings; despite the fact she knew perfectly well what the area looked like. She'd spent goodness knows how long staring out the window as her child slept. All these small towns, and Lord knows she'd seen too many; had a sameness to them and they all unnerved her. Consequently, she saw the light, dusty country surrounding them; she saw the fields, the distant farms, the small town someway ahead and the gas station situated in the fields just outside town, where they stopped and the passengers had piled off the bus. She twitched her clothes nervously, she didn't like these small towns; she was too noticeable. She had long ago given up wondering why no one cared, even grew grateful for the apathetic society that made it easier for a person to hide. The apathy and anonymity was even more noticeable in the cities, no one noticed much and she could blend into the huge crowds. So now she tried to make straight jumps from city to city but of course, they had to stop at gas stations from time to time; like this little place somewhere in the heart of Georgia.

She headed straight to the bathrooms and when she emerged, she looked refreshed with a newly washed face and a lively sparkle in her eyes. Her hair neat and tidy, her daughter awake, all her needs attended to and happy. The difference about mother and child was astounding. The baby curiously investigating everything in sight with her bright and active eyes, the mother obviously delighting in her daughter's world. A smile was quick to blossom on her lips at anything her daughter found intriguing, as she sat drinking her coffee. She removed her overlarge, comfortable, travelling coat, wearing a bright pink top underneath her dungarees and searched through her bag to retrieve a tissue to wipe the dribble from her child's face.

"Beautiful girl, ain't she?" commented a male voice, his American accent twanging through the air. She turned to see a man, probably late forties smiling down at them.

"Well, I certainly think so." She replied in her crisp English inflection, looking at her daughter, lying in her arms, where she had her tiny fist wrapped around her mother's finger.

"But then again, all mothers do, don't they?" she continued, turning to him with a smile.

"So I've heard. You're British?" he asked as he slid into the seat across from them

"That obvious, is it?"

"Well, it is kinda conspicuous. So what brings ya to the good ol' U.S. of A.?"

"Well, at the time, it was a good idea to get away for a while, and I thought we might as well come here as anywhere else. Her father's American, you see, better chance of finding him if we're actually IN the country." she lied. She had no intention of bringing the father into this. She'd lived with the situation too long to risk endangering anyone else. She'd learnt that lesson the hard way.

"Oh, right, so, how'd you meet her father then?" he asked, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Well, I spent last year backpacking through the U.S."

"Oh right. An' ya got this little 'un as a souvenir?"

"I suppose you could put that way." _But I wouldn't,_ Beth thought snippily, not impressed by the comment, but trying not to be insulted. It was nice to have someone to actually talk to.

"What do yer folks think about it? Is that why it was a good idea to get away?"

"I'd really rather not talk about this, if you don't mind."

"Sure, no problem. I'm Chris, by the way." He said, sticking out his hand

"Beth. And this is Isabelle. How'd you do." She replied with a smile, shaking the proffered hand.

"Great thanks, and yourself?"

"Can't complain." Beth replied in a chirpy manner. Even though she had reason enough to complain, she didn't exactly feel like sharing. Not with a complete stranger.

"Beth, that sure is a perrty name." without giving her a chance to react, he continued

"So what do ya think of America? Are ya having fun here?"

"Well, it's certainly an adjustment, as much as any foreign country. Little things like, a trunk is the boot, gas stations are service stations, the sidewalk's the pavement, you know. But yeah, it's a great country. I liked it enough to come back again."

"That's very cool, I'm glad ya like it here."

"Do you?"

"Well, everyone can see the flaws of their own country better, can't they? But on the whole, I guess I like it, my job's here so."

"And what do you do Chris?"

"I'm an architect. Right now, I'm travellin' to scope out the site for ma next job."

"Wow, that must be so cool! You get to travel, and I'd imagine that you get to be quite creative, designing buildings and things?"

"Yeah, the job certainly has its highlights." He looked her up and down as he spoke. She tried to ignore it, but the blatantly masculine way he looked at her couldn't do much but unsettle her.

They continued to speak but Beth couldn't shake the feeling tugging at her senses, that something wasn't quite right with the situation. She thought he was just a nice guy, he had enough of a fatherly-air to give that impression. But the looks he kept giving her, and something in his tone put her on edge. After a while, she glanced at her watch

"Oh! It's been lovely chatting to you Chris, but I really must be getting back to the coach now."

"Hey, I'll walk back with ya." He said, checking his own watch. As they stood, he took Isabelle and put her back in her baby-carrier while Beth packed their belongings into her bag and slung it around her. She reached for Isabelle but he turned and walked out of the café leaving her no choice but to follow.

"Thanks for taking her, but I really can manage myself you know." She hinted, wanting her daughter back, feeling ill at ease and vulnerable. She had a sense she was being manipulated and she really didn't like it. They emerged from the café on the far side from the car park, but instead of taking the path that led around to the car park along the road, in front of the café's glass front, Chris followed the path that went around the back. She hurried to catch up with him, not wanting him to take her daughter out of her sight. She knew she was just being paranoid, but in this world, especially in HER world, it was sensible to be at least a little paranoid. She shivered in the cold of the shade, wishing he had taken the route in front of the café into the sun. He turned the corner and she ran up to it.

As soon as she turned the corner she was pushed to the ground hard and felt hands tugging at her clothes. Her first thought was of Isabelle, where was she? What had he done with her daughter? She was pinned to the floor by Chris' body, his knees either side of her stomach as he pulled at her dungarees. She tried to kick him, but he'd tucked his feet over her knees. She struggled as the panic rose inside her. She head-butted him successfully once but he hit her hard with the back of his hand. Her stomach was tight with fear and tears were threatening the corners of her eyes. She tried to use her weight to flip them both but couldn't manage it. She felt so, helpless. She struggled more with no avail until she finally caught him off guard and flipped them both, but as they rolled off the edge of the path and onto the grass, they rolled again; putting her back under his control. He spoke to her as she continued to struggle

"Come on, give it up you slut; we both know you're up for it!" She froze as the shock of his implications set in. He thought she was easy because she'd gotten pregnant at eighteen. He thought she would sleep with any random male just because he wanted her to. He thought - He let out a triumphant grunt as he wrenched the front of her dungarees out of its fastening. Her stomach leapt in fear and panic but suddenly he was thrown backwards in a blinding flash of light. She turned desperately, looking for Isabelle and saw her where he had dumped her. There she was, safe, still in her baby-carrier, lying next to the wall, her eyes... glowing. There was a definite red light in her eyes. As Beth stared at her daughter, dumbfounded, the glow faded, considerably. Beth's mind whirled at the implications. Does this mean - How can she already be - She's not even three months old yet, how can this be happening already?

She heard Chris staggering around behind her and she scrambled to her feet. Turning to face him, she saw a man, angry and covered in dirt and scratches, but he looked... pathetic. Weedy and a despicable example of the lower members of the species.

"What the hell..." He stepped forward, stumbling back to the path and his eyes travelled to Isabelle, her eyes afire and he guessed what had happened

"Your bitch daughter... What the hell did your devil child do to me!" he snarled at her

Seeing him in this new light gave Beth a strength she hadn't known before, mentally and, it seemed physically. She stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar, flinging him around and pushing him up against the wall. He winced as he hit his head and she lifted him ever so slightly off the ground.

"After what you tried to do, I don't think there are many people that wouldn't agree with me when I say that she isn't the devil-spawn here, you are." She practically growled and continued fiercely. "Surely you know that the most dangerous creature in the world is a mother defending her child. So don't you EVER speak about my daughter like that again, or I will make you sorry you were born. In fact, it would be a VERY sensible thing of you not to mention this little incident, or any warped versions to ANYONE. EVER. Get my drift? Because if you do, I'll know and I SWEAR, I will make you sorry." She began to release him; when, despite his disadvantage, he managed a disbelieving snort, prompting her to fling him back up against the wall.

"You don't believe me? My daughter just gave you a spontaneous fireworks display and you don't believe that I can do something as easy as find out if you speak a word of this? I can do that, and more, easier than you can breathe. Anyone finds out about this, and I WILL come looking for you, and I WILL punish you. Understand?" She got no response at this, only a glare filled with hatred. She returned it with one of her own.

"I asked you if you understood, you despicable piece of filth. Am I making myself clear here, or have you lost the ability to speak your perverted version of English? Am I _making_ myself clear?" she repeated, raising her voice slightly.

"Crystal." He eventually replied through gritted teeth.

"Well good then. That's settled."

She let him down and scooped up her daughter before hurrying back to the café entrance and ducked inside amongst the crowds of people and dashed into the bathroom. She looked at Isabelle and as the red glow finally disappeared from her eyes, her face crumpled and she began to cry. Seeing her daughter so distressed, Beth was having a hard time keeping her own tears at bay, especially when she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror. She had a huge red swell along her cheek bone where he had hit her and the other side of her lip had split at some point. She was holding the crying Isabelle with one arm but she looked at her other hand, covered in bloody scratches and smudges of mud and realised she was shaking. A woman came out of the toilets and gave a start when she noticed her injuries.

"Ya alraght dear?" she enquired kindly. That was too much, her lip wobbled and her tears spilled as she shook her head, answering

"No. I don't think I am."

Ten minutes later, Isabelle was calmed and they were both cleaned up. The woman in the toilets was a waitress there and had taken them to the staffroom and sorted them out. They sat there, a tiny kitchenette in the corner, as the woman, Barbara, placed a cup of coffee in front of her and listened sympathetically to Beth's story. Well, the version excluding Isabelle's apparent defence capabilities

"Oh dear. Ah'm so sorry. If Ah ever see him in here 'gain, you can be sure, he will be dealt with. D'ya want me ta call the cops?"

"I don't think there's much point is there? I didn't know his last name, if his name even IS Chris; and besides, my coach is leaving in a matter of minutes. Thank you so much for everything. I'll never forget how kind you've been to me. I can't thank you enough."

"Hey, a pretty card from England will be enough. Ah've always wanted ta go. You know the address, it's on the napkins!" she joked, earning her a small smile from Beth.

"I really ought to get out to the coach otherwise they'll leave without me. Thank you again."

Later, safe on the bus, Isabelle promptly fell asleep, leaving Beth alone with her thoughts.

How could this be happening already? Beth had done her research; what with Isabelle's father being a mutant, she would have been remiss not to, and mutants definitely WEREN'T supposed to get their powers before they even reach three months old. They emerged during puberty, sometimes with crippling migraines until they tapped into them. NOT while they were still in diapers, as these Americans would say. She had no problem with mutants and she was already in love with her daughter so it's not like it really meant anything to her but she wasn't stupid. She knew about the fear and hatred and prejudice against mutants that existed in this world. This world with rapists and paedophiles and kidnappers and terrorists and criminals and a thousand other types of bad guys. Didn't she have enough to worry about for her daughter's safety? Enough to worry about without mobs of ignorant, intolerant idiots attacking people just because they happened to be born with different abilities and talents? Never mind that they were still people, that most of them were good people and one was the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful man she had ever known. And that one of them was her daughter.

But how could this be happening so soon? It explained a lot sure, like the reason she'd left England in the first place but still. All any mother wants is for their child to be healthy and happy and safe. She only wanted the best for Isabelle. How could she have happiness or safety if she was confronted with such open loathing and revulsion from such an early age? It had been hard enough knowing she would have to deal with it as a teen and an adult, but as a baby, as a child? God, it was making her head hurt. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She still didn't know why there had been men after her daughter since she was only a few weeks old but it was a possible clue.

Deep within the Xavier Mansion, 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester County, New York; inside a round room, a flashing light appeared as the miraculous machine known as Cerebro registered a new mutant manifesting their powers.


	2. On The Run

_A/N - Disclaimer: 'Greyhound' is a coach/bus company in the U.S. and belongs to whoever owns it. Not me. The song 'Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad' has been sung by many people as far as I gather but anyway I don't own it. The verse Beth sings is from J Lo's 'Alive' and is an awesome song, how I wish I owned it but again no, I don't. 'Tip Top' is an actual bar in Vancouver WA but I don't own it and I don't even know exactly what kind of bar it is. 'Bill' and 'June' belong to me. 'Pride and Prejudice' belongs to the late and great Jane Austen. 'The Marauders', like all things X-ey belong to Marvel, not me._

Chapter Two: On The Run

Beth stepped inside the grotty motel room and put her suitcase and bag down. Holding Isabelle closer to her, she turned and locked the door before checking the window. She sat on the bed and looked around. The same old dingy door, the same old tatty furniture and pretty much the same old shabby floor plan. She had seen way too many rundown motel rooms lately. But she couldn't afford anything better if she was going to make her savings last as long as possible. She knew she'd wind up taking a job at some point but with Isabelle being so young she tried to put it off as far as possible. She sighed at the hopelessness of the situation. At least she'd found a place for tonight that would allow her a room despite having Isabelle. Turns out, according to one jumped-up receptionist; babies cause disruptions by being so noisy. That idiotic woman, Beth still couldn't believe that tart had said that. Still, they were miles away now. Putting Isabelle down on the bed, she crossed the room and wearily brought her suitcase over to the end of the bed. She unpacked a couple of choice items. There was no sense in unpacking more than the essentials. Not when they were faced with the prospect of having to make their escape in the middle of the night, when there was the possibility they would have no choice but to run.

At least they had somewhere to rest. Maybe, just maybe, they could get through one more night. One good night's sleep without another attack. Hopefully. Just one more night.

Still, Beth knew that sleep would evade her again. No matter how tired she was, she never could sleep at night these days. She survived on cat naps and dozed during stolen minutes. No matter how exhausted she was from travelling, she never let her guard down. Especially not at night, not when they were stationary, not when they were at their most vulnerable.

In the morning, they breakfasted in their room after a quick shop in the local cheapo store. The expense was a constant worry. Beth scrimped on her own needs, but couldn't bring herself to do so for Isabelle. She was only a child; after all, it wasn't fair that she should do without because of their money problems. Beth felt so guilty over it all, what kind of up-bringing was she giving her daughter? Finances were adult's responsibilities, it wasn't Isabelle's fault. It really wasn't, it was those men. That's whose fault it was. The bad guys in their lives. Beth had spent so many hours wondering, racking her brain trying to figure out who they were and what they wanted with her daughter; but no answers were forthcoming. They spent the day resting in their room, they had to do way too much travelling of late and it was a luxury to stay in one place all day.

All day turned to all week. Beth looked in the mirror and saw the sleepless night reflected in her face. She hardly recognised that girl, the one in the mirror with tired bags under her red eyes. Tired, she rubbed her sore, dry, unrested eyes wearily, turning away from the mirror, disturbed by what she saw there. Worried, she wondered if it was safe to stay put for so long, but eventually decided to take advantage of it for as long as she could before the men found them again and tried to take her daughter. And she would have to run. Again. Letting them take her daughter was not an option.

It happened 5 days later. They were on the road again.

She stepped off another greyhound and checked into another motel. She spread out a map of America on their bed, closed her eyes and stabbed it with her finger. Opening her eyes, she found the city nearest to her finger, clear on the other side of the enormous country.

Next stop, the big apple; she thought to herself.

She lay there in bed, trying to sleep, her heart beating wildly. She heard the far-off shriek, softened by distance, as sirens went screaming through the city. She tossed and turned, trying to settle, to grab as many hours of snatched sleep as possible, but the adrenaline pumping through her, raising her pulse was making it impossible. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw in her mind's eye, monsters of men creeping out from the shadows of her room, sliding in the window, cracking the door and sneaking in. Opening her eyes, she reassured herself the room was empty but for herself and her sleeping child. She sighed and closed her eyes again, doing her best to ignore the images conjured by her paranoid mind. Frustrated, she sat up and slung her legs over the side of the bed, her head in her hands. It was going to be a long night.

Several motels and many hundreds of miles later, en route to New York; she heard it. That all too familiar sound, that stopped her heart cold. She heard it every time they came for her daughter, just in the nick of time; but she still had no clue what it was. The strange thing was, she didn't think anyone else heard it either. It sounded like static going crazy inside her head and she felt dizzy and sick. Isabelle fussed and grizzled, cried and just caused a fuss until Beth noticed them. Like all the other times, she glanced out the window and saw them. Closing her eyes against the danger momentarily, she thanked her lucky stars, the universe, whatever higher power had given her that alert, that warning, a few seconds, a minute. She just prayed it would be enough. She couldn't fight them, she didn't stand a chance. Their only defence was to run. She gathered their belongings and they fled, slipping into the night.

Next time, they stopped for a whole month. She had headed in the opposite direction to her previous route after they had found them, and found herself heading for Washington State, right on the border; as far away as she could get while still in the country. They managed to get lodgings above a bar this time, "Tip Top" in downtown Vancouver; and the owner's wife watched Isabelle while Beth managed to get work in the bar. She had explained to Bill, the owner/manager, that she might have to leave abruptly and he was very understanding. The bar was not exactly a classy establishment and they were used to the kind of people who were involved in dodgy dealings or on the run.

Beth stepped into the shower, trying to wash away the feeling, the dread of what the night would bring. She was working again tonight, which was good she supposed, she would be glad of the money; but it would be a lot easier if it weren't a topless bar. She knew that a lot of other woman did it without caring, but she wasn't exactly happy with her body and it was a big deal to her, to do that kind of thing. She shook her head under the water and firmly pushed the thoughts away. She relished the feeling of the water sluicing over her skin, after months on the road, grabbing rushed showers in motels before trying to catch as much sleep as she could; it was pure luxury to be able to just enjoy it. She tasted the water on her lips and turned away, opening her mouth to sing. It had been a long time since she had felt relaxed enough to sing.

Later, as she dressed in her room, a knock came on the door as June brought back Isabelle

"Oh thanks June, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Oh, it's no problem, hun. Say, was that you singing a lil while ago?"

"Oh sorry! I didn't realise I was being that loud. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Oh, it's not that sweetie, it's jus, well, Bill used to have a singer every night here, but since she left, Bill hasn't been able to find anyone to fill her spot. Have you ever done any performing?

"Well, yes, I have but it's been a long time."

"That doesn't matter, it's like riding a bike, you never forget. Are you up for it? I can tell you hate the topless stuff. I'll work it out with that husband of mine, you'll get more money for fewer hours. Ya'd only work the evenings ya see. An' ya get ta wear a few more clothes." She added in a mischievous tone. Beth's eyes widened considerably

"Are you serious?"

"Well sure hun! If ya want to that is."

"I'd love to! Oh wow, June, that'd be brilliant!"

Beth stood nervously in the wings, waiting for Bill, acting as Compere, to go on and announce her. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand before he stepped out onstage. He was a friendly, sweet man and Beth liked him. June and Bill reminded her of her own parents, which was both a blessing and a curse. It reminded her just how much she missed them. They must be so worried about her, and Isabelle; but she couldn't risk contacting them. Not even a phone call.

"And now, ladies and gents; we have the stunning vocal stylings of Lady B!" he exclaimed into the microphone, using her stage name. There was a spattering of applause and she stepped out into the spotlight. The second the spotlight hit her, she was transformed. It had always been that way, put her on a stage and the shy, awkward girl was lost beneath the confident, sexy performer that shone out and lapped up the limelight. Now, the weary mother fighting for her daughter was the one who disappeared beneath the star's veneer. She felt as if the real Beth was surfacing and she loved it. Nothing was like the stage. Nothing. Nothing elicited such passion, everything was the be all and end all for the few moments on the stage. It was so very different to the feelings she got around Isabelle, but nearly as strong. But tonight, Beth was not just a woman; she was a star. That feeling was unbelievable. She was wearing a sexy, slinky midnight blue velvet number and in keeping with that theme, she spoke in a husky voice, still so very English

"Hello there, it's lovely to see you all tonight. I hope you all like this song; it's one of my favourites." The bluesy intro began and she closed her eyes and tipped her head back slightly, before she opened her mouth and began to sing. A beautiful sound lilted through the air as her lovely, expressive voice filled the room

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

_They think you're no good, well I know you've been bad_

_Took me to a place, now I can't get back_

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

_Walked together down a dead end street_

_We were mixing the bitter with the sweet_

_Don't try to figure out what we might have had_

_Just two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

_I'm just a singer, some say a sinner_

_Rolling the dice, not always a winner_

_You say I've been lucky, well hell I've made my own_

_Not part of the crowd, but not feeling alone_

_Under pressure, but not bent out of shape_

_Surrounded, we always found an escape_

_Drove us to drink, but hey, that's not all bad_

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

_Guess I've been greedy, all of my life_

_Greedy as a child, a lover, a wife_

_Greedy for the good things as well as the bad_

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

The instrumental swept through the room and she swayed around on stage, lost in the music.

_Maybe it's just talk, saloon singing_

_The chairs are all stacked, the swinging's stopped swinging_

_You say I hurt you, you put the finger on yourself_

_Then after you did it, you came crying for my help_

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

_I'm not complaining, baby I'm glad_

_You call it a compromise, well what's that_

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

_Two shots of happy, one shot of sad_

She finished the song and heard the substantial applause. She gave a little curtsey, grateful to be acknowledged at all, with the kind of clientele this place attracted. She moved onto her next number and for the rest of the night, she was equally well received. She had forgotten how much she loved the stage, how she loved to disappear into her role, be it a singer or acting a character.

She padded down the hall to her bedroom, her heels in her hand. She felt amazing. Elated, but in a gentler way than the normal performing high she got. Instead of the energetic, hyper-active euphoria, today she felt a sleepy happiness. She felt happier than she had in a long while. Everything would be alright, she could worry about other things tomorrow; because right now, tonight, everything was just fine, more than fine, everything was brilliant. She could sleep, content, safe in the knowledge that they were okay, and her daughter was nearby. It had been a long time since she'd had that. It sounded simple, but it was such a luxury to her. She sang softly under her breath, just the chorus, of a song that beautifully expressed her feelings of that moment

_I guess I found my way, _

_It's simple when its right, _

_Feelin' lucky just to be here tonight, _

_And happy, just to be me, and be, alive._

She slipped into the bathroom and creamed her heavy glamorous stage make-up off, leaving her with just her natural beauty shining through; and brushed her teeth, freshening up and wiping away the residue of the smoky bar. She slipped into her room, quietly so as not to disturb the baby. June was sat in the chair reading. She stood, smiling, when Beth came in.

"I could hear ya. You were wonderful sweetie! They loved ya." She told her, whispering for Isabelle's sake.

"Thank you. I didn't realise how much I missed it. Thank you for the chance."

"Oh sweetie, thank you for bein' so good! Hey, I'll bet you even boost business." Beth laughed softly at that, moving over to look at Isabelle in the crib June had lent them

"I'm not sure about that. Did she give you any trouble?"

"Not at all. She's an Angel that one. Didn't have a peep outta her all night. Bin quiet as a lil mouse." June was stood by the door

"Good. Goodnight June."

"Goodnight Hun." and with a quiet click of the door she was gone. Beth stretched out her tired frame, changed her clothes and climbed into her bed and snuggled down into its softness, breathing in the fresh, slightly floral scent of clean bedding. It had been a long time since she had really felt, that life was good.

"**_What's wrong Professor? You've been distracted for weeks now."_**

"**_There's a new mutant, Scott, powerful; just manifesting their powers."_**

"**_What else do we know?"_**

"**_Nothing. That's what is frustrating, it was just a momentary blip and then gone. Obviously, there is some strong shielding going on here, but whether it's a natural mutation or something more sinister, I cannot be sure. It requires further research."_**

"**_Well, if there's anything I can do."_**

"**_Thank you for the offer Scott. I may have to take you up on it at some point. For now though, all we can do is wait."_**

When Beth woke in the morning, she felt happy. For the first time in a long while, she recognised the difference between living and surviving. She'd survived on the road, living for a few brief moments when she delighted in her daughter, when Isabelle captured her entire attention in an instant, just by being her baby. Last night, last night she had lived again. And she was amazed she could have forgotten it, forgotten the feeling of being on stage. At one time, she could have honestly said, she never felt more alive than when she was on stage. Before Isabelle. But last night had reminded her of that sentiment. She had indulged the part of her that cried out for it, the part of her soul that belonged on stage; and it had done her the world of good.

Christmas came and went, and as much as Beth loved the season, but found it lacking without her family. It was also a depressing thought to think that this was Isabelle's first Christmas and Beth couldn't even afford a camera, let alone a video camera like most people did for their child's first whatever.

A few weeks later, she had the night off and decided to spend it reading as Isabelle slept. She sprawled in a chair, occasionally checking on her sleeping child, before re-immersing herself in Jane Austen's world, the book June and Bill had given her for Christmas. She settled down, devouring the book. Until she was interrupted.

"Well, well. Looks like you weren't quite quick enough this time, were you now?" came a menacing growl of a voice.

At the sound, she looked up in surprise; only to sit straight up and freeze in horror, in terror as she registered the sight before her.

They were here. In her room. And he was holding her baby. She had forgotten how to breathe as her entire body, her every nerve and instinct cried out at seeing Isabelle in the arms of that fiend, that monster.

He began to laugh, amused at her shock, her horror, her failure as a mother. It was the most terrible moment Beth had ever experienced. Worse than the pain of giving birth, it stretched on for eternity, eternity in a second; and she knew, she knew in that one second how perfectly helpless she was. No matter what she did, there was nothing she could do that would make a difference, she couldn't stop them. She could give her life fighting them, if they would stoop to her level but she couldn't do a damn thing to make any difference. She had failed. As a mother, she had failed Isabelle in one of the most fundamental ways. She couldn't protect her daughter.

And in that dreadful, heart-stopping second, she sat there, frozen in that terrible knowledge as he laughed; the door was suddenly blasted off its hinges.


	3. Kidnapped

Chapter 3: Kidnapped

She screamed. The group of monsters swivelled around to see the dust and debris clear. Several people were stood in the doorway beyond, uniformed bodies. Her stomach leapt at the sight, yet more reinforcements. Surely she was defeated enough already, there was nothing she could do. Did these people know the meaning of overkill? But after a horrible second, the man leading the group shot laser beams out of his eyes. AT the monsters. It was then she realised, they weren't on the same side. The rest of the group burst into action, fighting those fiends. Whether the new group were good guys or just another bunch of maniacs after her daughter she didn't know or care, all she knew was that maybe it gave her a chance to get her daughter back.

As the fight broke out, a uniformed woman made her way over to the bed. The redhead ducked down next to her and looked her over

"Are you alright?" she asked and Beth nodded dumbly. The uniformed woman, she cared!

She wanted to shout, to warn them, to tell them to run while they still could. But her voice was frozen, dead, in her throat. She couldn't bear this, she didn't want anymore deaths on her conscience. That's all the uniforms were, bodies. Or they would be anyway. Like the first time these fiends had shown up, had come to take Isabelle; anyone who stood in their way was done for. She couldn't understand how she had survived so far, she just wanted to scream at them, for them to disappear. She didn't want them to die like everyone else who had tried to help her; the security guards who tried to help her the first time those beasts had shown up; the gypsies that had taken her under their wings, welcomed her into their family; they were all dead now and it was her fault. June and Bill! What had happened to them? She prayed they were out, safe.

"Come on Beth, we need to get you out of here." the redhead continued gently.

"No! My baby!" she HAD to get Isabelle, she had to make this woman understand. It was obvious from the surprise on her face that she wasn't expecting Beth to be a mother. She looked sharply around the room and her eyes widened considerably when she spotted the baby. Her eyes changed, as though she was concentrating, focusing on something no one else could see. Then she turned back to Beth

"The others will get her. But right now, we need to get you out of the firing line."

"NO! I can't, Isabelle, I can't, I can't leave her, I -"

"Beth, trust me. If anyone can bring her back to you, it's them." The sincerity in her eyes burned into Beth, and she found herself nodding and allowing the redhead to lead her out of the room. She followed her out of the pub, momentarily glad to see June and Bill standing across the road with their patrons, obviously having been evacuated. June spotted her and started forwards, concerned, but was held back by another uniform. The redhead guided her with a hand behind her arm, taking her away from the small confused and chaotic crowd and round the corner. They came to a building site Beth knew, it had been there weeks, but the massive jet parked there was an entirely new feature. Her eyes round with amazement she stopped and stared

"My gosh." She said. But it was only half-hearted.

"It tends to have that effect on people. I guess I'm used to it though. We'll be safe inside."

And with that she pressed a button on the wristband of her uniform and a door opened, a ramp sliding out of the enormous craft. She lead the way in and as Beth stepped in looking around in vague amazement. The questions she could ask! But as it was, she didn't care. She was too worried about her daughter. What on earth had made her trust this woman?

"I'm Jean by the way." The redhead introduced herself, sealing the entrance with another button.

"What, when… do you know how long they'll be?" she asked, her voice unsteady. Jean shook her head, commiserating.

"Sorry. It'll take as long as it takes. I know how worried you are, but trust me, if anyone can bring your baby back to you, it's them. Right now, all we can do is play the waiting game."

"In all my life, I've never been as scared as when I saw her in his arms. Not even giving birth terrified me as much as that. I swear my heart stopped."

"Yeah. I know the feeling. Not with a child, but my husband, my team-mates. I hate it."

"Me too. I just want my baby back Jean." Jean squeezed her shoulder compassionately. Beth pressed a hand to her mouth and fought back the tears.

And they waited. A few minutes later, they twirled around at the sound of the door dropping and saw the walkway glide down. The uniformed group came in, and the two who had evacuated and managed the crowd but all Beth saw was that one of the people aboard, a beautiful young woman with black skin and white hair, was holding Isabelle. She dashed to the woman who handed Beth her baby. She clutched her to her as if her life depending, crying.

"Oh thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much. Thank you." She babbled as tears flowed down her face and she rocked back and forwards holding that soft little bundle, breathing in the smell of her, comforting her daughter, who was also crying. The woman smiled. Jean led her into the corner at the back of the jet and sat her down on the seat, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly, smiling. Once the jet was in the air and they were safely on the way, the activity in the jet died down. The others behind her looked at her curiously but then seemed to realise what they were doing and began to sort themselves out, replacing weapons into racks in concealed cupboards and recovered their possessions. One man lit up a cigar, and the one in those weird glasses told him off

"Logan, how many times? Not in the jet." But Beth only half heard, only half paying attention to anything other than Isabelle in her arms, comforting her crying child. She moved the baby from practically over her shoulder and rocked her in her arms, watching her, gazing down at her, marvelling at the luxury of just holding her, unbelievably grateful. After a while she calmed the baby down and eventually she slept in her mother's arms. She studied her child's beautiful sleeping face for a minute before turning to Jean who had sat down on the other side of the L-shaped bench.

"I can never thank you enough." Beth told her emotionally. Jean smiled and said

"Hey! We're just glad to help." After a moment's pause, Beth asked

"Who ARE you?"

"We're the X-Men." The man in the strange red glasses said, as he had come up to them.

"You're mutants? All of you?"

"Scott, this is Beth. Beth, this is my husband Scott." Jean said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you." She said, shaking his proffered hand.

"You too. And yes. We're all mutants. Just like you." He replied

"But I'm not…" her smile faded from her face. "Isabelle." She looked back up at them, both confused.

"I'm not a mutant. But Isabelle… Isabelle is."

"I don't understand, we didn't even know about her."

"Scott, if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. The trouble Cerebro had pinpointing her, we couldn't even find her until she popped up in the search for the Marauders. I scanned the room before we went in, I didn't sense the baby. At all. She must have some amazing shields. We didn't know anything about her so we just assumed…" Jean said to Scott, before turning back to Beth "I'm sorry, we thought YOU were the mutant."

"That's how you knew my name." she said thoughtfully, now she wasn't so obsessed with worry over her daughter it had occurred to her that Jean had known her name without needing to be told. She shook herself out of her thoughts to answer.

"Oh, that's OK. But, why were you looking in the first place?" she asked uneasily.

"We're based at Xavier's School for Gifted Children. A school for mutants. So many mutants out there get in terrible trouble, just for being mutants. We try to help them, we teach them, give them a safe place, a home, train them so they can handle their powers. We thought you might need help." Scott explained

"That's a wonderful thing to do. I've always hated the brainless hooligans that think violence is the answer to everything, that judge people based on their colour or race or… or…..mutation. I don't know if that's the word or…" she trailed off. Jean smiled

"I know what you mean. We came here to offer you a place at the school. You're not a mutant, but your daughter is. You're still in danger, you can bet this isn't the last you'll hear of the Marauders; so we can still help you. If you'd like us to."

"I'm not sure I understand…Who are the Marauders?" Beth asked uncertainly

"The Marauders? Those mutants in your room." Scott told her

"Oh. I see." She said in a small voice. Jean looked sharply at her, suddenly concentrating, when she spoke, her tone was intense, as if the question was very important

"How long have they been chasing you?" something was definitely nagging at her senses

"Urm, well, what date is it?" was the only response Beth could give

"January 16th." Scott replied, exchanging a look with Jean.

"Then, about 5 and half months. They started when she was a month old." Jean and Scott's jaws dropped, eyes wide, he impressed, she horrified with compassion

"How on earth have you kept them at bay this long?" she asked

"I don't know of anyone who survived them that long." Scott said.

"Well, I ran." She replied. "A lot. We've been lucky, until this last time, I noticed them before they got anywhere near us, grabbed as much of our stuff as I could and ran. It was kinda weird, I kept hearing this noise. Kinda like static but… different. I don't know. Maybe I imagined it. All I know is, we were lucky and I managed to get us out in time."

Jean and Scott gawped at her still and she realised that the rest of them, while under the pretence of doing other things were listening in and had been staring at her, gob-smacked, for the past minute.

Beth looked around the jet sharply, as if only just realising they were travelling.

"We're moving. Where are we going?" she asked urgently

"We're on course to the Mansion." Scott told her, shaking off his stupor.

"Where's that?" she asked, suspicious

"Sorry, it's in Westchester, New York."

"New York! But, June, Bill, they'll worry; my stuff, I -"

"Don't worry. We have your things and you can call your friends from the Mansion." Jean reassured her with a comforting smile, a small half-smile on Beth's worried face in return.

"Okay." She whispered.

"What about your parents? They'll want to know you're safe? Was that them at the bar?"

"No. I've only been there about 2 months. I haven't seen or spoken to my parents since I left." She told Jean quietly, not telling her more than the basics, not feeling in a particularly chatty mood. She was tired, and when she was tired she tended to get emotional, which tired her even more. It was a vicious circle.

"Since you left when? You can't be much older than the kids we teach, when did you leave home?" Jean pushed gently, trying to get her to open up, the others busying themselves again.

"I left when the Marauders tried to take her the second time. It was just too dangerous to sit and wait, I had to keep us moving. I haven't been in contact with my parents since. Everyone around me seems to wind up dead when they come after me, I couldn't expose them to that, especially not Victoria." She paused, getting emotional. No one questioned her and she continued

"They're probably going insane, reported me missing; but I couldn't. I just couldn't, I couldn't risk it. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't. It was already too easy for them to find us, there's no way I could know if it was safe or not."

Jean put a hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the face, drawing Beth's tearful gaze to meet her own.

"You're safe now. You and Isabelle."

"How can you say that? You don't, you don't know what, what they did, what they're capable of." She would have carried on stammering but Scott interrupted her

"We know. And we can handle ourselves." He told her in a firm, confident voice

"No! Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE who gets in between us and them winds up seriously DEAD. I've seen it!" she shook her head "There's no way you'll survive. They will KILL you, because of us. I can't let that happen, there are too many people dead because of us already. The only way is to keep moving, keep running. We can't stay, you have to let us out. Let us out! Land the plane, whatever, just let us go!" she was beginning to move from highly emotional to hysterical, she got to her feet, agitated, constantly shifting Isabelle in her arms, her voice rising, again attracting the attention of the other X-Men in the jet. They unconsciously moved protectively into a large loose semi-circle around the small group

"What will you do? If we land the jet right now, and let you out, what will you do?" Scott asked her rationally, trying to talk her out of her distress

"I'll take my stuff and I'll get on a coach. Or bus, to you. Or a train or something. I'll keep moving, and hope they don't find us for another month."

"And you're happy with that? You want that life? You want to bring your daughter up on the run? Never having stability, never feeling safe. You could have those things with us." Jean pitched in, trying to persuade her.

"What about you? Don't you want to be safe? Don't you want to have children and bring them up SAFE? Because you won't be, not if we're there. We are dangerous to be around, because they will never give up. They will always come. They're relentless." She said passionately.

"You're right. They are. So what happens the next time they come? You nearly lost her today didn't you? What about next time?" Scott retorted aggressively.

"We'll find a way."

"But you said it yourself, they won't stop, they'll just carry on until they get what they want. Surely it'd be easier just to give her up? Let them take her? Then you wouldn't have to run anymore." The others could see Scott was playing her, using his logical, emotionally-stunted reasoning to make her think and realise they'd be better off with the X-Men, to stop her wanting out, to calm her down. But she just stared at him, her face hostile with outrage, unable to believe he just said that.

"How dare you." Her voice so British, shook with fury. "SHE is my DAUGHTER. I will not STAND BY and let those animals take her away. I will protect her with every breath in my body and then some. I love her, she is my daughter, she's MINE. I would never, NEVER give her up. Don't make the mistake of thinking that because I was stupid enough to get pregnant at my age that I didn't want her with every fibre of my being. She was born because it is not her fault she exists, it was mine. I have her with me now because I want her, and I will always want her. She is my baby, my child, and you obviously have no comprehension of what that means or there is no way you could even suggest that!" her jaw was clenched. Fury was pouring off her, she was trembling with it, holding Isabelle tightly, no one having noticed she had woken. There was a weapons rack/cupboard open behind Scott, and suddenly the weapons hanging there began exploding one by one. One man ran up, turning silver and shooting up in height; and slammed the cupboard shut, containing the remaining blasts. Beth turned to Isabelle, quickly comforting her, calming her, cooing at her, stroking her cheek and tapping her finger with a little fist wrapped around it. She was practically dancing as she bobbed around, talking to her daughter softly, her face lighting up with the love she so obviously bore for her daughter.

"Beth? Are you sure you're not the mutant? It seemed like you were the one upset just now when the weapons cupboard blew up." Jean asked cautiously

"Yes, that may be true, but I'M not the one whose eyes glow when that happens." She held up the baby to prove her point and it was true, the glow was there, plain for all to see.

"I am very sorry for whatever damage has been done, and I apologise for my outburst. Now that I've calmed down, I can see I was wrong to react so strongly. I just don't particularly like being manipulated." She said in a deadly calm tone, looking straight Scott.

"Thank you so very much for your help, all of you" she said, raising her voice to include the others "but I really think it would be much better if we parted ways at the first opportunity. I will never be able thank you enough and I don't feel it fair to endanger you anymore than I already have." Jean stepped up at this

"Please, Beth, rethink this. We can help you, I know we can. And as for putting our lives in danger, we do that everyday of the week. It comes in the job description. I know you must have seen a lot of terrible things, that no one should ever have to see and I know you must have been through so much, and that must make you wary of trusting people, understandably, but we can help you. And Isabelle. She could have an almost normal life, without having to move around all the time. How will you cope when she has to start school? Children need security and stability, how will you be able to provide that? Because no matter how much you love her, how much you sacrifice to give her, there are some things that you just can't give. Please, Beth, please let us help you. Both of you. And no matter how much you protest that your needs don't matter, Isabelle is all you care about, and no matter that you feel that way, you are important too. Isabelle needs you to make sure she's safe. Everything that has happened to you will and is taking a toll on you, and how can you care for Isabelle to the best of your ability, make the best decisions in that state of mind?"

Tears crept to her eyes as she realised defeat. Everything Jean was saying made perfect sense. She felt like a lousy mother, it was all so obvious and she couldn't even see it until a complete stranger pointed it out. In that moment she realised, whatever fragile peace she had built up over her time at the bar with Bill and June, it had been shattered the moment she saw her daughter in that fiend's arms. Depressed, she nodded dumbly, before muttering

"You're right. You're absolutely right."

Jean looked relieved, and had Beth had eyes in the back of her head, she would have seen the rest of the X-Men breathe a sigh of relief. Jean stepped forward and put an arm around her shoulders and led her back to the seat. She sat her down and reached under the seat she'd taken before and took a large box out of the storage cupboard underneath. She took a coat from another concealed closet further down and laid it in the box forming a makeshift cot for Isabelle.

"Here, you can put her down. I'm sure you both could do with a rest." Jean told her. Beth smiled sadly and nodded. "Try to take it easy. You're absolutely worn down as it is, stop giving yourself such a hard time." Beth managed a half-smile at that as she gently laid her daughter in the box and then leant back against the wall, watching the others who turned back to what they had each been doing so fast it was almost comical. Sensing Beth needed a moment on her own, Jean patted her shoulder and smiled.

"I'm here if you need me." She assured the girl. With that, she went to stand with the white-haired black woman. They were acting strangely, as though having a conversation but never making a sound or even a movement. She felt too drained to care what they were doing and turned her attention away. After a while Logan joined them.

_So could ya find anythin' out from the kid?_ he projected, inserting himself into the telepathic conversation

_More than I wanted to. The things she's been through, I feel so bad for her._ she replied

_I'm sure it'll help having a stable home._ Storm reassured her friend

_I hope so. At my guess, she's about a week away from a complete mental breakdown. _The sombre glances they exchanged at that piece of information spoke volumes of the concern they each felt.


	4. New Surroundings

Chapter 4: New Surroundings

"Her mental state will need careful observation. She gave birth around six months ago and pretty much straight away she felt she had to run away from home. She's struggling with a new baby, her first child obviously, away from all the support of her family, with all those hormones in her system. She's been running for nearly six months under those conditions, it's no wonder at all that her state of mind is so deteriorated. I would not be surprised if she was suffering post-natal depression, aggravated by her circumstances; and it is very likely her sleep patterns have been heavily interfered with, even more so than the normal new-baby disruptions. She panics easily, understandably and was near hysteria in the jet, as well as depressed at another point. That's just what we've seen so far. You know I don't like to pry but her mental defences are completely worn down, battered from being on constant alert; she was projecting EVERYTHING in the jet; so strong, I could practically feel it bouncing off the walls. It took a huge amount of concentrating on strengthening my own shields to keep it from affecting me. She's a wreck, Professor. I estimate if we'd arrived between 5 to 10 days later, even without the Marauder attack, she would have had a serious mental breakdown. She'll need to be handled very carefully, and given a lot of time to come to terms with everything she's been through before she can even begin to feel at home here and interact with the team and students on any kind of normal level." Jean finished reporting on their newest resident.

There was a moment of silence as the Professor absorbed everything she had just said. There others in the room were doing the same too; as one of the X-Men, it paid to make sure you took everything in.

"I see. Well, of course, I don't see a problem with her staying. Admittedly, she isn't a mutant but her daughter is and they both need help. She may even prove to be a valuable contributor to the Mansion, either to the team, or more likely, to the school; when she has fully recovered from her ordeal that is. Jean, am I to assume that I can trust Beth's well-being to you? You are the logical choice of course." The Professor said

"I would be delighted to help her. I'll let you know should I encounter any difficulties with her mental rehabilitation; but I am confident that, handled correctly, there shouldn't be any problems." Jean replied

"Good then. Henry, have you examined Beth and the child, Isabelle, did you say?"

"I haven't yet had the chance; she was far too exhausted from the events of not only last night but the last six months. I will require a preliminary examination of course, but I allowed her to rest first. It is not yet a matter of urgency after all." Hank replied, trying to filter out most of his doctor-speak for the benefit of his team-mates.

"Well make sure you do. Does anyone else have anything they wish to bring to my attention?" The professor glanced around the room at each member of his team as they shook their heads, denying any immediate claims on his time.

"Well, then, I have an English class to teach shortly and you have your respective classes and duties to return to so, I suggest we call it a day."

As the X-Men filtered out of the room, the Professor mentally attracted Jean's attention, all he needed to do to ensure she would hang back a little. When the others had left he simply said;

"Make sure you a keep a good eye on her, won't you? If anyone can help her, it's you Jean. I'm here if you need me." She smiled at his concern for their latest addition and his confidence in her and nodded in acknowledgement and reply before slipping out of the room, leaving him in peace before he was bombarded with the challenge mutant teens posed on his ageing mind. He possessed the world's greatest psionic powers, could handle intergalactic negotiations and deal with rogue mutant activists everyday of the week but an hour-long lesson with a dozen teenage mutants caused him more stress than all the others put together.

_Beth tossed and turned uneasily as she slept, plagued by worry and fear during her waking hours, by dreams in her sleep. She muttered feverishly, her face creasing in discomfort. She found herself in a memory; back on the jet, 'The Blackbird' she now knew, and Isabelle was sleeping soundly in a box at her feet. Looking around, she saw them all there, completely normal. She saw the redhead, Jean, an eerie understanding in those green eyes; Scott, those strange glasses; the beautiful young black woman with white hair; a dark-haired man, predatory, exuding an air of primal masculinity, wild; a guy who looked like…. An angel. A gorgeous blonde angel, with the most beautiful white feathered wings. Another guy, he was blue too, but it was a darker blue, he reminded her almost of a shadow. Memories twinged, she thought maybe she had seen a show as a child about shadow-people that resembled this strange mutant. She saw the tall, muscular young man; the one who had turned silver when he slammed the cupboard shut, containing Isabelle's explosion. The two that had been attending to the crowd, younger, a lad in his early twenties with dirty blonde hair, cute baby-faced good looks and the his eyes, a really crisp, clear, icy blue; she had never seen a colour like it. She saw the girl, around her own age; brunette with a funky white streak and green eyes that intrigued Beth. There was just something about her eyes; she couldn't put her finger on it. Like she had seen too much, or there was too much behind them, it was intense. _

_All this was true to her memory but she didn't notice when it began to distort. It started small; awkward silences, resentful glares, then progressed to downright loathing. It was so thick, she could smell it, taste it in the air; the hatred. The abhorrence, she could feel how much they all detested her, each and every one. The indignance and disbelief that she was here was rife in the air, she had no right to be there. She didn't belong and they all knew it, and resented her for it. It didn't take long before the glances of disgust became mutterings of revulsion. She was stuck there, trapped with these people. They started prowling angrily around the room, closing in on her; slowly, inexorably. Her breathing hitched and fear settled in her chest; or at least, the ever-present fear took a stronger hold. Anger and hatred flashed in their eyes as they started getting more violent as they got nearer, punching walls they were within reach of, kicking out in the air. Panic rose and she had to do something, anything._

"_Please." She begged, whimpering in fear "I don't mean to upset you, I know I shouldn't be here; but we don't have anywhere else to go." _

_She was in tears by this point, pleading with them. The white-haired woman spoke, a fury in her cold eyes like Beth had never seen before_

"_You do however. You can go anywhere. And you are the problem, the one that doesn't belong. The child is welcome." And with that she picked up the box with Isabelle in and stepped back. Beth stepped forward, to follow but the others closed in around her. Beth couldn't even see them anymore, the woman or her daughter. She was suffocating, contained, cramped, by the crowd of people. She heard the white-haired woman's voice, cold, high above them _

"_We take care of our own." She looked around wildly but couldn't find the source of the voice and she heard no more, nothing other than the grumble of hate as the crowd pressed in around her. Just as she began to sob in hysterics and she battled, struggling against the crowd, beating her fists with no avail, she fell to her knees and leant to the side back against the wall, weeping into her hands._

And she woke up in reality, in her bed at the Xavier Mansion, the sheets twisted around her; to a loud knocking on her door. She looked around, panicked, but on realising where she was she calmed down and, easing her arm out from around her sleeping babe, she stumbled across the room and peeked out of the crack she opened the door to.

There stood Jean, the redhead with those gorgeous green eyes which held all that knowledge. A shiver crept up her spine as Beth remembered her dream

"Hi Beth." Jean said, and as Beth nodded with a slight smile

"Morning." Beth replied in a voice croaky with sleep

Jean continued "I would say that I hope you slept well but I know you didn't. Perhaps I should have said something yesterday, but you obviously needed to rest. I'm a Telepath. Telekinetic too." Beth stood there, blinking, intrigued by the news, but not surprised.

Jean registered this and carried on, smiling, trying to put her at ease, delicately picking her words, trying to soften it

"Well, I'm afraid, I saw your nightmare and I just, well, I wanted to assure you that it was only a nightmare. You ARE welcome here. It doesn't matter that you're not a mutant; too many of us have suffered because of prejudice to apply those same rules to you. How can we feel the way we were treated was wrong if we do the same thing to you? It'd be hypocritical. But I think you'll find given time that, you could feel very much at home here and become a part of our family. Because we are a family here, for better or worse; we stick together. And we would very much like you to be a part of that." A small smile blossomed on Beth's face and Jean could tell she was genuinely touched. She opened the door wider.

"Thanks. That means a lot. I, er, I guess I didn't realise how much things had affected me."

"A person can't go through nearly six months of that and emerge unscathed. It will take time to get over it. But I want to help, we all do. Like I said, we're a family."

Another small smile from Beth was rewarded with a bright, sunny grin from Jean, who spoke again "Well, now that you've slept, I'm fairly certain our medic, Dr. McCoy will want to check you both over and other than that, perhaps I can interest you in breakfast and show you around this place? It's your home now, and well, it takes a while to get used to, being so big, but once you know your way around it soon seems a much more manageable size."

"That's sounds great. But I'll need to get dressed and sort Isabelle and stuff." Beth said

"Of course. I'll drop by to walk you so you don't get lost. How long will you need?" Jean asked

"Urm, say, half an hour?" Beth said, Jean grinned again

"Perfect. I'll leave you to it then." And with that, she headed off down the corridor and Beth closed her door, smiling.

Safely inside her room, Beth leaned against the door and tried to squash the butterflies of nerves and anxieties fluttering through her body. She moved to the end of her bed and went through the bag there. It occurred to her that maybe she should unpack; but found herself wondering, not for the first time, if she would actually manage to stick around this time, if she could make a home here or if she would have to rip up her and Isabelle's lives by the roots again and make yet another run for it. She was so tired of it all, and not-knowing was worse than anything. But she knew, if she had to do it, had to find the strength again, she might not manage it. Spurring herself into motion, she pushed the thoughts away and forced herself to concentrate on what she was doing; a strategy that had helped her deal with so many uncertainties for so long now.

At that moment, Isabelle began to whimper and her little face screwed up. She began to cry and Beth ran to comfort her baby. She lifted the tiny body gently and stroked her hair and face, making shushing noises.

"Hush baby, hush. Oh sweetie, shhhhhh. Shhhhh sweetie, shhhhh."

And as the baby quietened, the short, muscular man paused outside the room stopped wincing. He sniffed, listened, and contented that nothing sinister was lurking, moved on. Beth, oblivious to her silent guardian, continued seeing to Isabelle; the baby calmed, now that the strange man outside her room was no longer in the vicinity.


	5. Medlabs and Doctors

Chapter 5: Medlabs and Doctors

Jean led her into the med-lab sometime later, Beth fighting the urge to withdraw into her shell and stay silent as she always felt the need to whenever she felt insecure, intimidated or out of her depth. This isn't a problem she told herself. There is absolutely no need to worry. Pull yourself out of it. She took a deep breath and summoning all her courage and acting ability, she put on a brave face and smiled the confidence she didn't feel. Because inside she was quivering in fear. It's not like she could overcome months of being hunted like an animal overnight. She still wasn't entirely sure she trusted these people yet, they were so new to her life. She tightened her arms around her child as they stepped inside and Beth was bombarded with the new stimuli of the white clinical room. Looking around, she got her bearings and spotted a very tall, very muscular man in a white coat with his back to them. This must be Dr. McCoy she guessed. She frowned, surely his hair wasn't… her thought trailed off as he turned. Her frown disappeared as her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. The doctor's hair was in fact a bright blue. For a moment, a thought skittered through Beth's mind that she didn't want to be examined by a punk, even if he WAS a qualified doctor. But then she noticed that he was covered entirely in fur of the same colour. It must be his mutation. Right. Okay then. She thought and as she accepted it, her eyebrows returned to normal. Could she have seen Jean's face, she would have seen her surprise that Beth had accepted that so quickly. As it was Hank was the only one to notice, but didn't mention it as he came forward to introduce himself

"Hello. I'm Dr. Henry McCoy, the resident physician. My codename is Beast. You can call me Hank, Henry, Dr. McCoy, Beast, whatever you feel comfortable with." He gave her a friendly smile, extending his hand. She juggled the baby in her arms and shook his hand, returning his smile with a small one of her own.

"Elizabeth Harrington. Beth. It's lovely to meet you." She said quietly

"And you. Not often do I tend such polite patients." He joked, turning to the baby, who was gazing up at him with the wide curious eyes of a six month old baby.

"And this is…?"

"My daughter, Isabelle." She told him as the baby grabbed her little hand at him. They all smiled.

A pause allowed Jean to excuse herself, confident that Beth was reasonably comfortable with the situation and Hank began to ask her questions, completing detailed records for both mother and baby.

"Right, first things first, your full names?" He began

"Elizabeth Anne Harrington. And Isabelle Grace Harrington-Le Beau." Hank's head jerked up at that

"Le Beau?" He asked in a strange tone of voice, incredulous and urgent. Beth's brow creased at that

"Yes, it's her father's name. The double-barrel might be a mouthful, but he's just as much a part of her heritage as the Harrington side."

"Yes, yes of course." Hank said, still seeming a little shocked. He made a lot of notes on his pad and at length, they continued.

After that was complete, he gave them each in turn a thorough examination; to ensure that neither entered his care with any underlying problems. He wanted to draw some bloods to get their normal levels and as he prepared the equipment, Beth sat waiting. It was strange, although she was still nervous of everything, still wary of this new place, these new people; she found herself trusting the doctor. Her world had been tipped upside down and inside out lately and in the mess that remained she was reluctant to let her guard down. She knew she was probably being paranoid, but in certain situations paranoia kept you alive. That was especially important now that she had Isabelle to think about, yet despite that, she felt strangely at ease here. As he brought the equipment over, Beth made a conscious effort to talk to him. Her mental state might not be functioning at its best right now, but she didn't want to appear like a schizoid or something. Trying to keep her voice normal, casual, but without muttering she said

"Y-You know, before Isabelle I would, never have let you take my blood. I was completely phobic about needles; I would hyperventilate just thinking about it." She twisted a strand of hair around her finger nervously "I even ran out of the clinic once, in absolute hysterics." He raised an eyebrow in query, glancing up as he did so

"Is it still a problem? These blood tests aren't imperative, if it will cause you so much distress." He enquired gently

"No, I'm fine. If truth be told, I'm more scared of people now. I can handle needles no problem. Don't know what the big deal was."

"Really? How did that come about?" He sounded interested and she calmed a little, the effort it took trying not to be as jittery and flighty as she felt alleviated a bit.

"Oh, I'm sure you know how much blood doctors like to take from pregnant women Henry." She gave him a small smile then carried on, contemplative "I grew up so much, in such a short space of time. Knowing that it was for the baby's sake, not my own; I suppose my maternal instincts overrode my fears and once I'd done that; well, I realised it wasn't really such a big deal. I never would have thought I could do that, no matter what the reason." As she was talking, he had taken the blood and now removed the capsule of blood and placed it on the tray

"Well congratulations on overcoming your fears." He said with a smile, sliding the needle from her arm "I do not have the personal experience but I have been reliably informed that irrational fears such as phobias are absolutely terrifying and can be very difficult to overcome."

She smiled, glad that the doctor was one she could get on with. She could tell he was very knowledgeable and could hear it in his voice, the quiet confidence that he knew what he was talking about. She immediately respected the kindly doctor, he reminded her vaguely of her grandfather; what she could remember of him, she had been young when he passed away.

"Right well, it would seem everything is in order for the time being. We're all finished here. I believe Jean is waiting for you in the corridor." He told her, smiling again. She stood and lifted the baby

"Well, thank you for your time. I expect I'll see you around Henry."

"That you will. Welcome to the Mansion."

"Thank you." She smiled as she exited the room.

As she stepped into the corridor, Jean rose from her seating and smiled

"Everything go okay?" She enquired friendlily

"Fine, no problem." She said with a small smile; still slightly on edge, but she could cope with one person at a time.

"How did you get on with Hank?"

"He seems nice. To be honest, he reminds me of my granddad. He's just lovely isn't he?"

"Well we all think so, but I don't know many people who would react that way the first time they meet Hank." Jean looked over at Beth in an assessing manner. She came across as very withdrawn but Jean knew she was fighting it. It was a very good sign that she was at least trying to get over her ordeal and its consequences so quickly. Jean just hoped that she wouldn't push herself too far too soon. That might do more damage than good. She was surprised at the young girl that stood in front of her. Not only trying to bounce back so soon but the way she had just accepted Hank, no hesitation; it was a refreshing change from most humans they came across in their line of work. She paid attention to how Beth would reply to her statement.

"Why? He's obviously very intelligent, and easy to get along with. That's actually a very good thing isn't it? To have those qualities in your doctor?" A trace of shyness still quivered in her voice but Jean was proud of her; she knew Beth felt a lot more timid than she was letting on.

"Yes it is. But most people would take a little longer than you to adjust to such an obvious mutation." She pointed out gently.

"Oh." Beth simply replied then shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I don't really know what to say to that. I, just, don't see it as a matter of any importance. Besides, with the X-Men, you can kind of expect to come into contact with mutants." Beth stated and smiled down at her daughter who had been grabbing at her fingers whilst she had been speaking. "But I've never had any problems with mutants. Isabelle's dad is one after all. I've never had any problems with any minority group." She said, still looking at the baby in her arms "I was brought up listening to the wrongs we've done to each other in the past, you see, my -"

She broke off with a pained expression. Jean looked at her

"Go on. What about your dad?" Jean asked, in the tone your stereotypical shrink might use. Beth's head shot up as she looked Jean in the eyes

"How did you…? Oh. Telepath, right?" Jean nodded the affirmative. "Well, he's a University lecturer. He teaches history. Specialising in Classical Civilisations but he seems to know a bit of everything. So I grew up listening to the real-life horror stories brought about by prejudice and fear; being taught to avoid such things myself. It worked in every aspect in my life, except my relationship with my sister. We fought like cats and dogs when we were younger. But that's siblings for you, they know instinctively how to push your buttons." She tried to joke, but not quite managing it.

"Is that who you mentioned in the jet? Victoria?"

"Yeah. She's a huge part of why I left. I couldn't expose her to everything that was going on. And now we've grown up a bit; I can see that aspect, feel protective of her, especially now our arguing isn't such a problem. Not that I'd know anymore. I haven't seen any of them practically since Isabelle was born. They must be out of their minds." She gave a small, almost bitter laugh "It's so surreal. My life was so simple, so normal and now…. You have to admit it sounds crazy. For nearly six months, we've been running from monsters who want to abduct my daughter, who has superhuman powers. Maybe that's why I don't have a problem with any of this, I don't quite believe it can be real."

Jean smiled. "That's not why Beth, you believe it well enough. You can't lie to a telepath you know." Beth smiled briefly

"Please, forgive me, I tend to ramble when I'm not sure of myself. Say anything, just to keep the conversation going. You wouldn't believe what it's gotten me into in the past."

"Don't worry about it, if anyone understands; it's me." Jean paused for a moment before she continued on, thinking about their plans for the day "Right well, what next? It's nearly lunch and I doubt that you want to battle a bunch a rowdy kids on your first day."

"You have a point." Beth wrinkled her nose as she replied, her voice still lacking something. Her whole manner, it was nagging at Jean, trying to figure out what was missing.

"Well, how about I take you back up to your room and then when the kids are finished, we'll fix you two something then I'll show you round the mansion?"

"Sounds good to me." Beth agreed quietly.

Life. That's what it was, that was bugging her. That lively spark that Jean knew should be there, it wasn't. She didn't know how she knew that but she did. Beth's mind was reeling, spinning hectically from one thought to the next, never stopping, never resting; frantic and panicked, unable to relax, but internally, her real emotions were shut down. As she led them back up to their room, to hide from the hordes of stampeding students, her mind worried at the problem. Give her time, Jean decided. She needs time, and lots of it, to recover and regroup from the Hell she'd been through for the last six months, the Hell Jean could barely imagine.

She delivered mother and baby to their door and suddenly remembered "Oh! I forgot to mention, you can call your parents. Let them know you're okay; you're right they must be so worried." Beth froze, staring at Jean.

"But… but… I can't, I can't call England on your phone, it'll cost the earth." Beth protested

"Professor Xavier can handle the cost of a transatlantic call, believe me, it won't make a difference to him. Stop stalling, the longer you wait, the harder it will be." Jean responded, attacking the root of Beth's protestations before leaving her to it.

Jean waited outside the door, until she heard Beth's voice inside the room, a good few minutes later

"Mum? It's me..." Jean heard Beth trail off as she heard relieved sobbing and shouting muffled from the other end of the phone. Eventually, in a teary voice Beth choked out

"I miss you too. So much." The girl sniffled inside the room, crying already. Jean smiled to herself and went to supervise the daily food fight, also known as lunchtime.


	6. New Friends

Chapter 6: New Friends

When she arrived back at Beth's room after the kids had returned to their lessons, she knocked and after a second Beth opened it; her face showing signs of having been crying, but her eyes seemed brighter and more alive than they had since Jean met her. And when she returned Jean's friendly smile, it seemed easier for her. Not to mention the decrease in Beth's usual on-edge, panicking thoughts battering against her mental shields; they were not MUCH more aggressive than the usual telepathic white noise, for the moment anyway; Jean knew how variable such things were.

"Ready to go?" Jean asked chirpily.

"Yeah, sure." Came the reply, only a little nervous.

After Beth had eaten and Jean had shown her where she could store Isabelle's bottles, she began showing Beth round the Mansion. She knew there was too much for Beth to take in on one tour but she had to start somewhere.

"And this is the library." Jean said leading her into the large, beautiful room. Beth gasped a little in awe.

"It's beautiful. It makes me think of every grand old library I've ever read about." She whispered in delight, coming out of her shell slightly.

"Yes, I think it's lovely too. I don't get to spend nearly as much time in here as I'd like. It's used mostly by the students, for homework, or research or study periods. Like these three here. What are you lot up to?" Jean said, gesturing towards a group of three young people at a nearby table. The library itself was fairly empty only the odd student reading or working other than these three. Beth looked at them and thought she recognised two from the jet yesterday, against the beautiful backdrop of ceiling-high book-laden shelves of beautifully carved mahogany. She tightened her hold on Isabelle subconsciously, a nervous gesture

"Wouldn't you like to know, Jean?" the young man retorted, a mischievous glint in his eye

"Yes Bobby, that's why I asked." She turned to Beth "You might remember Bobby from the jet yesterday, he's the Math teacher but his primary role is the prankster of the Mansion and I suspect he would be the first to admit it."

"Hey! What about me?" demanded one of the girls, a beautiful young Asian, about seventeen, with glossy black hair, sparkling dark eyes, a bright and wild fashion sense and Beth already suspected the personality to match.

"Jubilee here is also rather mischievous. When the two of them get together it usually spells trouble. And you may also remember Rogue." At that, the brunette with a white streak in her hair spoke up with a friendly smile

"Hey there! Glad ta finally get introduced."

"Hello." Beth replied nervously, looking at each as she smiled hesitantly.

"You're British? That is sooo cool!" Jubilee exclaimed.

"Calm down Jubilee." Jean told her, projecting telepathically to the three residents

_Treat her gently. She's been through a lot._

A look of understanding passed through the deep pools of Jubilee's dark eyes, Rogue's glassy bottle-green ones and Bobby's ice-blues as they each comprehended the fact.

"Er, hey Jean? Don't you have a class in like, now?" Bobby pointed out

"I beg your pardon?"

"Class? Bunch of teenage mutants? Paige and Illyana? Biology? Starts... round about now? Ringing any bells here?" Bobby teased her. Jean's eyes widened as she hastily recalled what Bobby was talking about before she relaxed.

"I asked Hank to cover that class for me." Jean said and Bobby lost his teasing grin

"What? Jean, Hank's gone." Bobby said urgently.

"What!" Jean asked

"He said something about Test Results and drove off like a bat out of Hell."

"He didn't?" Jean said, face pale; unsure whether to trust Bobby but she couldn't risk lowering her shields at the moment. She knew he would be projecting mischievous delight a mile wide if it was a prank, but she couldn't check it through her shields. What she did know was just how vulnerable Beth's state of mind still was, and that was blotting everything else out. Sending messages was a lot easier than reading their minds, she could project the information at them from behind the safety of her mental defences, unlike delving into the mysteries of their minds.

"He did. Guess he forgot about covering your class. You know what he's like when it comes to his work; he forgets the world even exists." Bobby said. He looked so damn serious. She bit her lip, uncertain. Finally, she came to a decision and believed him

"Oh no." she turned to Beth "I'm really sorry it looks like I'll have to go." She turned back to the others "Could one of you make sure she gets back to her room okay for me? I'm sure you remember how huge this place seemed when you first got here. I remember you all getting lost at least twice."

"Don't worry, we'll look after her."

"Thanks." Jean said and rushed off, glancing at her watch. As soon as she was out of the room, the three of them burst out laughing, Bobby most of all. Beth stood there, feeling nervous and out of her depth until the girls had recovered.

"Awww man, that was good!" Jubilee crowed

"Ah can't believe ya got away with that one!" Rogue said to Bobby before turning to Beth "Jean is so hard to get, coz she just checks yer mind ta see if yer tellin' thah truth. Ah can't believe she didn't this time. She really fell for it!"

"So… that was a joke?" Beth felt so out of place. Being the only one standing didn't help. But she couldn't just sit down, she didn't know them. She shifted from one foot to the other.

"Yeah. Sorry bout that, but you're safe enough with us." Jubilee told her, as Bobby sobered up in his corner

"Until Jean returns anyway, then it might not be so safe around here…." He said before collapsing into another fit of laughter.

"Anyway!" Jubilee said, changing the subject "Jean didn't say what your name was?"

"Oh, erm, I'm Beth. And this is Isabelle." She told them, slightly shifting the baby in her arms. Jubilee leapt up and peered at the bundle

"Awww! She's so adorable! Is she yours?"

"Yeah. Yeah she is." Rogue got up to join them, and smiled as soon as she saw Isabelle's beautiful blue eyes gazing up at them curiously

"Aww, ain't she cute?" Rogue sighed

"She's gorgeous!" Jubilee cooed, and Beth smiled a little

"Thank you."

"How old is she?" Rogue asked

"Six months." She replied

"Awww!" Rogue and Jubilee both melted.

"Honestly. Women!" Bobby exclaimed, apparently having recovered. Rogue and Jubilee looked up, outraged

"Ah! I think we need to hit him for that, don't you girls?" Jubilee screeched indignantly. And with that she launched herself at Bobby, whose quick reflexes threw him to his feet and he pelted away. As Jubilee gave chase, Rogue began laughing at the sight and Beth smiled in response.

"It can get a bit wild wi' those two round heah, but generally it's not that bad. Ya get used ta it, then it's jess' funny." Rogue told the newcomer, in a friendly manner, smiling.

"I'm sure I will." She replied.

"So, Jean was givin' ya a tour o' thah Mansion?"

"Yes. But I'm afraid this place is so big, I doubt I could find my way to a bathroom let alone anywhere else."

"Gee, Ah can barely remembah feelin' that way mahself, it seems so long ago now. Ah could find mah way round this place wi' ma eyes shut. It's strange rememberin' when it used ta be such a mayze."

"Well, it's all new to me at the minute." Beth replied with a nervous smile

"Well, Jean said ta make sure ya got back ta ya room okay, do ya wanna go? Coz Ah mean, we could go find thah others, or jess' hang out. Or anythin ya want really. We got a swimmin' pool an' a basketball court; in the rec room, we got movies an stuff. Or if ya feelin' tired, I can jess' take ya back ta ya room. Up ta ya." Rogue told Beth her options, going out of her way to help the newbie.

"Well, to be honest, it's been a long day; and all Isabelle's things are in our room so if she starts crying I'm kind of stuck."

"So 'stop babbling Rogue and take mih back ta mah room'?" Beth managed a small, but genuine laugh at that

"Well, I wouldn't have put it quite like that!" she said, her voice still quiet but much more lively than before. The two girls chatted as Rogue showed her the way back to her room, although Rogue did substantially more of the chatting; as Beth was still very quiet. As they climbed the stairs, they caught a glimpse of Jean tearing past in a fury on the storey below.

"Looks like Bobby had bettah watch out!" Rogue said as the two girls exchanged knowing smiles. As well as they got on, Beth still breathed a sigh of relief when Rogue left them in the safety of their room and the stress of social interaction lifted. Jean came to check on her before dinner and brought her a meal up; understanding she needed time to recover her ordeal before she would feel up to dealing with people, especially as many people as there were in the Mansion.

However as the days passed and turned into weeks, Beth's avoidance of everyone except Hank and herself began to weigh on Jean's mind. She still believed that Beth could turn it around by herself, but she started to worry that Beth was growing more likely to need help, and a lot of it, with each day that ticked by.

"Knock-knock!" Rogue sang quietly as she pushed open Beth's already ajar door. Beth looked up and smiled. As much as she had taken to hiding in her room lately, she couldn't hide from Rogue. And Beth was now very glad of that fact. The friendly girl came to see her regularly, and didn't mind that Beth was rather reluctant to leave her room, often the teenager spent hours with the two newest arrivals at the Xavier mansion; talking to Beth, getting to know her, helping with Isabelle, occasionally coaxed her out of her room and showed her whatever-it-was around the school and soon began bringing Jubilee and Bobby with her. Jubilee gave her the low-down on all the Mansion's residents and kept her up to date with all the gossip, while Bobby usually clowned around, amusing the girls. He was good with Isabelle, probably because, even though he was the oldest of them all, he was the most immature. And when the baby refused to settle, Jubilee would use her powers to entertain her, always incredibly careful of the fireworks around the baby, who loved Jubilee's pretty light show. Their visits became more frequent as they got to know and like the latest additions to their home and as Beth got to know all three of them, she, ever-so-slowly began to creep out of the shell she had withdrawn into to protect herself and Isabelle.


	7. Settling In

Chapter 7: Settling In

However, Jean was still worried and Hank began to join in her concern. Although the friendship budding between the teenage girls was a step in the right direction; Beth was still reclusive a huge amount of the time. Remembering the Professor's reassurance "I'm here if you need me." The two Doctors approached him about it one evening.

Professor Charles Xavier looked up from his desk at the knock on his door.

"Come in." he called and saw two of his original five X-Men enter the room

"Jean, Henry. What can I do for you?"

"Well Professor," Jean began, as they both took a seat "It's about our newest resident. Beth's been here nearly a month now and we felt it time to discuss her progress with you."

The Professor closed the file on his desk and slid it to one side, and looked at them, his hands resting on the desk, fingers interlocked.

"Ahh yes. Miss Elizabeth Harrington. I was going to inquire as to her state myself. I am all ears."

"Well, physically, she's in good health. She is making excellent progress and coping well with the baby. Mentally, however, is the issue that brought us here. Her ability to deal with her recent ordeal and the transitions that occurred is of some concern. She is demonstrating slightly reclusive tendencies, understandably, but left unchecked, she could become overly withdrawn and well, become a hermit within not only the Mansion, but her room." Hank answered.

"Kind of hypocritical for you to say, isn't it Hank?" Jean asked gently

"That is an entirely dissimilar circumstance. I do so out of choice and the necessity of my work. I am perfectly _capable _of socialising; I do not remain in my laboratory out of fear of the outside world. Neither do I have a child to raise in such an environment. It is not just Beth we have to think of, but of creating a positive atmosphere for Isabelle to grow in as well. We must consider both their best interests."

The Professor looked thoughtful before he answered "I was aware she wasn't mixing with the student body much, but given her situation and the amount of pupils here, as you say, it's understandable. You have much more contact with her than I, and if you feel the need to come to me with your concerns then I can trust there is an issue to address here. Have you any idea how much time she is actually spending outside her room? Willingly?"

"Well, she doesn't eat with the students but she will go down to get herself a meal when the pupils are in lesson or have at least left the area. And she comes down into the kitchen to deal with Isabelle's bottles and things. I would say she spends roughly between one and three hours a day out of her room." Jean replied

"However, I feel it relevant to point out here that this is not the total amount of social interaction she is engaging in. Robert tells me that she and Rogue are forming a strong attachment, and Rogue spends a great deal of time in Beth and Isabelle's room with them. She also brings Robert and Jubilation to socialise with them and occasionally convinces her to come out, to watch a videotape or a Digital Versatile Disk in the Recreation Room for example."

The Professor nodded pensively "You say she is making progress?"

"Yes, but we're worried it may be too little too late. And I can't think of any more ways to encourage her that I haven't already tried." Jean told him earnestly.

"Hmm. It does require some careful thought. Push her too hard and we may do more harm than good." He said

"Do you think she has any unresolved issues that may be holding her back? Other than the obvious caution resulting from her recent experiences."

"I don't believe so Professor. She doesn't panic when someone knocks on her door or calls her anymore. Her mental state has vastly improved, except of course for her inclination to keep withdrawn inside her room. She hasn't brought up Isabelle's father since she first arrived when she mentioned he was a mutant."

Jean paused in her answer, and neither Jean nor the Professor noticed Hank's unease at the mention of Isabelle's father but the subject was passed over, which Hank was thankful for. He still had no idea what to do with the confidential information his patient had told him, unaware of its significance herself. He tore himself from his dilemma and tuned back into what Jean was saying

"I suppose she may have some issues there. Other than that, she has reconciled with her parents and although she misses them, I don't think there are any problems there." Jean reviewed all Beth's possible problems. The Professor rubbed his chin as he mulled the problem over.

"Henry, are you still planning on attending the genetics conference in Munich?"

"Why yes Professor. Kurt is accompanying me, an excuse to visit his home proved too much of a temptation for the Incredible Nightcrawler to pass up." Hank replied, surprised.

"Do the two of you think it might be beneficial for Beth and Isabelle to visit her home also? As you will be in Europe, it would only involve a slight detour."

"Well, I do believe it's a marvellous idea. It would be my pleasure to take her home en route." Was Hank's response

"I think it'll do her the world of good." Jean agreed

"That's settled then. But I'm afraid I am no closer to finding out WHY the Marauders have such an interest in the child. So she is still a target."

"I doubt the Marauders will attack her again, knowing that she is with us." Hank reasoned

"Still, it would be prudent to have some of the X-Men accompany her, for both their safety." The Professor decided

"I agree. It's too dangerous to trust that they've forgotten about her, or that they can't track her again." Jean said

"Who should escort her? There aren't that many people she knows, let alone trusts." Hank stated, turning to the practicalities

"Well, as you and Kurt will be reasonably near, I see no reason more than two people need go with her. She trusts you does she not?" the Professor replied

"Well, I believe so, but surely it would be more important that she trusts the two who accompany her?"

"Jean? How would you like to take a trip to England?"

"Well, as much as I would like to help Beth, I'm covering Hank's classes. It wouldn't be fair to the students to just abandon them for a week. We have enough disruptions to the school schedule anyway, what with all the X-Men missions and such like."

"Of course. Who would you suggest?" the Professor asked them

"Well, Rogue for one. She's probably the closest friend Beth has here." Jean said

"May I suggest Robert? He has spent time with Beth and is perfectly capable. He and Rogue get on well so it's not a stretch of the imagination to say there's a good chance they will work well together. And it might do him good, some independence. I know I for one and a lot of the others forget how old he actually is; understandably it is frustrating for him to be treated like a student so much, despite the fact that he does indeed act like one." Hank contributed

"That sounds fine. Presuming, of course, that Beth approves. In the meantime, I think we should encourage her to spend time with her new friends outside her room. Perhaps someone could arrange a trip into the Salem Center?" the Professor suggested

"I will see to it Professor. Would you like me to approach her about the trip to England?"

"Thank you Jean, that would be helpful. Is there anything further we need discuss?"

"I believe that is all Professor." Hank replied. And with that they excused themselves.

"Come on girls! If we don't get going soon, you'll miss your movie!" Jean chivvied the girls on as Rogue and Jubilee fussed with their belongings in the hall and Beth was nervously fluttering around Hank, giving him no end of instructions without actually handing the baby over.

"And when she makes a kind of mewling noise, it usually means she wants attention. Except when she pulls a face with it, then it means she needs changing. And she doesn't like her bottles too cold, but you'll have to test it to check it's not too hot. And if you heat it up in the microwave you have to remember to stir it really well because otherwise there can be scalding hot-spots in the milk and it could burn her. And -" Hank interrupted her

"Elizabeth. I am a physician. I am perfectly capable of caring for your daughter for a few hours. And you have your cell phone; you can reach me at any time. Stop worrying, go and enjoy yourself." She shifted nervously, tightening her hold on Isabelle, biting her lip, obviously having second thoughts about leaving. Jean saw this and intervened.

"Beth, I know you're nervous but you have to do this sooner or later. Both going out, AND leaving Isabelle. And the longer you leave it, the harder it will be. I know you trust Hank, so just come along. You'll enjoy yourself once you stop worrying."

Beth took a deep breath and nodded before leaning into Hank and transferring the baby into his waiting arms. Isabelle grizzled a little at leaving her mother, but was soon placated by being so close to the blue fur that had fascinated her since the pair had arrived at the Mansion. Beth could practically feel her daughter's curiosity as her attention was diverted. A small tear plucked at her eyes as she smiled nervously at Hank and left with the girls.

"Are ya okay sugah?" Rogue asked, concerned; as Beth wiped away her tears in Jean's car as she drove them away from the Mansion and Isabelle and towards the Salem Center.

"I'm fine. I don't know what's got into me."

"Don't worry; it's perfectly natural to feel a little weepy when you leave your child for the first time." Jean reassured her from the driver's seat. Jubilee just smiled back at them from the front passenger seat, silently adding her support.

Meanwhile back at the Mansion….

Hank smiled down at the baby in his arms as she wrapped her little fingers around his fur and snuggled into him. She tried to lift her fists to put the fur into her mouth, as babies did when they were intrigued by something. There are more sensory receptors in the mouth than anywhere else on the body, Hank remembered. She began waving her arms, in the strange dance typical of infants, but hampered by the fur in her tiny fists being attached to Hank's body.

Later on, Bobby was heading toward the kitchen to fix himself a snack when he heard his best friend's voice floating out of the hall

"Ow. That is my fur. Ow. Please let go. Ow. Ow. Oww. I must ask you to cease and desist. Ow. Ow ow ow. Someone please help. Ow. Ow. Ow." Intrigued, Bobby turned and went to investigate Hank's dilemma. What he saw nearly had him rolling on the floor in laughter

"Robert! Wonderful! Ow! I am in dire need of your assistance! Ow! I offered to baby-sit young Isabelle here but as you can see, OW, I find myself in quite a predicament!" Hank stood there, holding the baby as far away from his body as he could whilst her hands were still fastened onto his fur in a death-grip and showed no signs of letting go. Bobby dropped to his knees, laughing so hard his legs would no longer support him

"Oh man! Oh man, this is a classic!" Bobby laughed

"Robert! I require aid! Ow! Quite promptly!" Hank scolded him, desperately. Bobby laughed.

"The only person, in this _entire _building chockablock full of mutants that battle the forces of evil on a daily basis, the ONLY person who can beat you up, is a seven month old baby! Come on Hank, you have to see the humour here!" Bobby crowed

"Oh yes, har-di-har-har(!) Absolutely hilarious(!)" he spoke sarcastically while in complete agony "Now for the love of GOD, will you help me? Oww!"

"Hank, honestly those manners of yours! What has happened to you? You didn't even say please!"

"What - OW - happened to me Robert," Hank ground out "is that I have an infant exerting her entire strength on my bodily hair! Ow! Now will you PLEASE help me!"

"Say pretty please."

They caught the film just in the nick of time and while Rogue and Jubilee enjoyed it thoroughly, Beth was just a little too preoccupied to lose herself completely in the movie. When it finished, they went for a pizza before it was time to meet Jean.

"I mean, come on! Hugh Grant, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Heath Ledger, Jonathon Rhys Myers AND Jared Leto all in the same film! Just TRY to tell me you weren't in Heaven for the last 2 hours!" Jubilee swooned

"Yeah, Ah agree, but personally Ah liked that guy off of Charmed, Chris, what's his real name?"

"Don't know, but he was good." Beth contributed

"Drew Fuller." Jubilee promptly supplied "So fine." she stated as fact.

"Tell mih about it! He looks kindah like Jared Leto, an' guess who he looks like?"

"Gambit, yeah, I know." Jubilee groaned, obviously having heard MUCH more about Gambit than she needed to.

"Really? The elusive boyfriend? Which one was Jared Leto?" Beth asked and the two girls groaned lustily

"He was the one _without_ a shirt." Jubilee said, and then sighed happily.

"Oooh! He WAS fine!" Beth agreed "You know he actually looks kind of like Isabelle's father. Looks like we have the same taste in men Rogue!" The girls laughed "But you know, I also liked Sean Bean's cameo."

"What!"

"No WAY! You're jokin' right!" Rogue and Jubilee exploded

"Come on, Beth, Ah know y'are British an' obviously have different taste, but he's seriously old!"

"What does being English have to do with anything? And he's not that old! He's not that old at all, and he looks a LOT younger than he did in Lord of the Rings."

"El Weirdo has a point there." Jubilee said

"Ah suppose." Rogue conceded "and Ah jess meant that he's British, an' y'are British so…"

"But still! Beth, come on!" Jubilee crowed

"All I said was I liked his cameo! I didn't say I was going to jump into bed with him!"

"Hmmm yeah." The other two agreed as they entered the restaurant and continued their in-depth analysis of the film's finer points in more detail once they were seated.

"Although I wouldn't kick Sean Bean _out _of bed either!" Beth said; causing the others to giggle hysterically, once the shrieking had died down.

"Now, Johnny Depp, wouldn't THINK about kicking him outta bed!" Jubilee drooled

"Ohhh! He was sooo hot in Pirates of the Caribbean!" Beth gushed dreamily, stars practically forming in her eyes.

"Tell mih about! Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp and eyeliner! Heaven on DVD!" Rogue quipped, almost floating off the ground as she thought about Johnny Depp in Eyeliner.

Light conversation followed as they ate, with much laughter and only a few comments or anxious gestures betraying Beth's worry at leaving her daughter. However short the time, she still felt inexplicably guilty, and strangely out of her depth without her daughter. When they had finished eating, she played nervously with her phone.

"Ya wanna call dontcha?" Rogue asked. Beth nodded.

"I just want to check everything's okay. I've never left her like this before."

"Well it's totally understandable. And it's not like it'll do any harm." Jubilee comforted her

"I know. But I trust Henry, and I have to do this sooner or later. It's just, I didn't realise it would be so hard!" the two girls nodded sympathetically

"Well, Ah don't know what ta say other than she's in good hands. Just try ta enjoy yourself."

"Yeah, Hank's the best! You've got nothing to worry about." Jubilee added

"Yeah, I know. And I have been enjoying myself! This is the best night I've had in ages, you wouldn't believe how much I've missed this kind of thing." Beth confessed

The girls both smiled in response, but didn't speak; their thoughts on the times in their own lives that allowed them to understand exactly what Beth meant, perhaps better than they would like. It was late before Jean picked them up that night and Beth felt more relaxed than she had in ages.

The next day, Beth found the courage to join the school for breakfast. Although she had run into many of the students around the Mansion, she had never yet been present at the mass mealtimes. Surprisingly though, no one took too much notice of her; it was as though they weren't aware that she hadn't embraced life at the school so fully before. They just accepted her presence without question.


	8. A New Arrival

Chapter 8: A New Arrival

"What's going on?" Beth asked Rogue as she joined the throng in the kitchen, more excited than usual. She shifted Isabelle's weight on her hip as her daughter chewed with her toothless gums on the colourful plastic ring gripped in her tiny hand.

"A new mutant arrived today! No one's seen him as he flew in from Canada and went to get settled in or something." Her friend replied

"Was everyone like this when we arrived?" Beth queried.

"Kindah. But it was weird, normally, rumours would grow and it would turn into a bigger deal the longer ya stayed out the way, but they just kindah died off fer you. Like everyone just fergot." she pondered for a moment as she realised what she had just said "Huh. It IS weird. Ah wondah if the Prof had summat ta do wi' that." Rogue said thoughtfully.

"Hmm." Beth replied, more concerned with dodging the chunk of plastic Isabelle was waving in her face. Suddenly the eager babble, dulled to an energized hum as the Professor appeared, a gorgeous young man at his side. Beth looked him up and down as she took in his appearance. The first 5 seconds of meeting someone is the most important, she vaguely remembered from a Psychology class she had taken. Because usually, that decides whether you want to get to know that person past the first impression she supposed. Well she certainly wanted to get to know him, if only as a friend. He had a manner about him, a definite 'keep out' sign there; but that didn't deter her. Looking closer, she recognised an air of mystery that intrigued her. He was a beautiful man; in his twenties, thick black hair with streaks of white-grey, in the style emulated by many with bleached white-blonde streaks. She noticed his ears, and it took her a moment to realise those elflike pointed ears must be his mutation. She mentally scolded herself for that, if she had opened her mouth before she'd realised, she could have really offended him. He had a strong jaw, arrogant yet dignified; and an almost sullen mouth. But Beth had known many people who reacted like that out of shyness. His eyes were deep pools of icy blue. There was a hardness there, in his sharp gaze, like granite; the glare of someone who wanted to keep people away, to be left alone, not to be bothered by the trivialities of other people, and to be safe from their judgement. He had a strong, toned body, the body of an athlete. He was completely and totally gay of course; but it was hard to spot, he was such a strong masculinity about him. The small crowd silenced then the throb of whispers filled the room, creating a low rumble of noise; just enough to hide people's individual comments.

"Oh. Mah. Gawd." Rogue breathed. "Is he fine, or is he FINE?"

"He is indeed. Don't you just hate how all the good ones are gay?" Beth griped half-heartedly.

"What! No way!" Rogue exclaimed

"Yeah. Totally. You can't tell?"

"NO." Rogue replied almost resentfully

"Hey, I thought you were totally besotted with this Gambit fellow anyway?"

"Oh. Yeahhh." Rogue remembered her boyfriend belatedly. "But there's no point anyway, if ya're right. Besides, he looks like a jerk. Even if he is damn gorgeous."

Beth was saved from answering as the Professor spoke up

"We have a new mutant joining us today. This is Jean-Paul Beaubier. His code-name is Northstar. Some of you may recognise him as an Olympic Skier. Perhaps some are aware of him as a member of Alpha-Flight, the Canadian mutant team. Others may have read his book. Either way, I am sure you all recognise the sanctuary this school provides for mutant-kind and greet him accordingly. Any and all prejudices are to be left outside these gates as we welcome another into our midst. Thank you." At the end of this speech, the din rose again.

"Ya're right, he's gay. And Ah was right, he's a jerk."

"Rogue! Don't be so judgemental! You don't know the guy." Beth answered this time, scolding her for her narrow-mindedness and she caught his gaze as his keen eyesight pierced her as he followed the Professor out of the room.

As if he had heard, she mused. Impossible, she dismissed it. But then, she remembered, the Professor didn't mention what his powers were.

"Besides, just because he's gay, that doesn't mean 'there's no point' as you so eloquently put it. Guys aren't ONLY good for one thing. Especially not gay guys. I don't go much on stereotypes, but in my experience, they tend to be great. A right laugh." Beth continued to argue her point as she watched him disappear through the doorway.

The dispute continued as the girls drifted out of the kitchen, but Beth's mind was on other things. Like the enigma that was Jean-Paul Beaubier.

They wound their way towards Beth's favourite haunt, the Library. It was quiet there, with few people to disturb them and few people for them to disturb. She loved the atmosphere there, surrounded by so many beautiful books. They seldom paid attention to the rule of silence however and occasionally had to leave to allow the students to cram in peace before a big test. Typically, the student body left such studying to the last minute. But today no one seemed to require the resources that the Library provided, obviously, for some unknown reason, none of the teachers felt like scheduling exams and quizzes in February. So the girls chattered away undisturbed.

"OH MY GOD! JEAN-PAUL BEAUBIER IS HERE! IN THE MANSION!" Jubilee burst through the doors in her typical extrovert fashion and tore her way to the back where she knew she would find Rogue and Beth.

"We know, oh Gossip-Queen. We saw him earlier." Beth replied matter-of-factly

"Well do you also know that I am not the only Queen in residence any longer? Yup! He's gay!" Jubilee crowed as she threw herself into the seat next to Rogue, who sat opposite Beth and Isabelle.

"She knew before the Professor introduced him. Before we knew who he was, she knew on sight!" Rogue told the other young mutant.

"OH my god! Really? Talk about Gaydar! How?" Jubilee demanded in full gossip-mode

"It's just there, it's obvious. You guys seriously didn't know?"

"Not until the Prof said his name. Then ya know, EVERYONE knows Jean-Paul Beaubier is gay." Rogue told her.

"What? How?" came Beth's confused reply

"WHAT! GET OUT! You've never heard of Jean-Paul Beaubier?" Jubilee's jaw dropped before she began shrieking.

"Urm, no?" Beth replied self-consciously.

"Oh my god! He's like, famous!" Jubilee babbled "He was an Olympic-champion skier, but then they found out he was a mutant and took his medals away, bastards, saying he cheated using his mutation, super-speed. Then he came out! Like, super-publicly. He wrote his book, it was HUGE, he must have made millions off it! He found his long-lost twin-sister, a flaming psycho by the way, Jeanne-Marie, or Aurora, depending on which personality you get. Then they were both in AlphaFlight for a while, but then she flipped out on him and no one knows why, but there are SO many theories, and –"

"Okay Jubilee, she gets the picture." Rogue interrupted her, mid-flow.

"Yeah, but –" she began to argue but was interrupted again

"Glad to know everybody finds my life so fascinating." came a sarcastic comment from somewhere in the direction of the door. Then Jean-Paul Beaubier himself stepped between the stacks and into view. The girls froze in horror. Beth recovered quickest, and began apologetically, in a so-typically English way

"Please excuse Jubilee, she finds EVERYONE'S life fascinating." Jubilee recovered enough to drop her eyes shame-facedly to the ground, her cheeks aflame.

"Probably 'cos she don't have one o' her own." Rogue joked awkwardly, trying to relieve the tension. He raised his eyebrows haughtily.

"So I've heard." Was all he offered in reply and left.

"Oh! My God! Can you believe that! You know, I heard he was a bit socially-retarded but THAT just takes the biscuit!" Jubilee began bitching in full-flow once again the second the door swung shut.

"Jubilee, you can't believe everything you hear." Beth tried to instil some sense in her.

"Yeah, what's that expression? About the pinch of salt?" Rogue agreed

"Take things with a grain of salt? Something like that. It means like be wary, or use some common sense with what you hear."

"Yeah, but I didn't hear it, I just heard it! As in, I just heard it from the horse's mouth. As in he JUST said it! You heard what he said!" she protested. Beth was struck with an overwhelming urge to bang her head against a brick wall.

"First impressions can be misleading. Don't judge people before you get to know them Jubes." She said wearily, giving it one last shot.

"Yeah, okay." The younger girl admitted grudgingly. Before they could continue their conversation further as Kitty and Illyana entered the Library, followed by Piotr, Illyana's brother. They joined them

"Hey guys." Kitty greeted the girls as they joined them.

"Hi." Was Illyana's quiet salutation as she sat next to Beth and

"Privet." came her brother's deep rumbling Russian as he took a seat next to Illyana, facing Kitty. Who blushed as she caught his eye, Beth noted curiously. Hmm. Interesting. God, she was getting as bad as Jubilee. A quick glance at the beautiful Asian told Beth that the Mansion's resident gossip was completely unaware of whatever lay under the surface there. She turned to find Illyana engrossed in the baby in Beth's lap, her finger held tight in Isabelle's tiny grip. The teenage Russian smiled and tucked her long blonde hair behind her ear with her other hand.

"She's really lovely Beth." The young girl told her.

"Thanks. I think so too, but hey, Mother's prerogative." She joked.

"But she really is." Illyana insisted.

"Well, that's why babies are like the ultimate pick-up device isn't it?"

"Oh man yeah!" Jubilee agreed

"What's that?" asked Rogue. Piotr looked intrigued too.

"Well, cause girls love babies. And nothing is sexier than a man caring for a baby. Girls just melt." Beth explained

"Da? Really?" Piotr enquired

"Sure. Don't you think Kitty?" Oh man, that was low, Beth scolded herself. But she was rewarded when Kitty agreed and blushed, and Piotr suddenly looked VERY interested. There was definitely something going on there.

"You know Piotr, why don't you give it a try and let us know? You could baby-sit sometime, and see how girls respond?" Damn she was good! Her voice sounded so light and innocent underneath her crisp English accent. She could see the idea work its way into his head and he glanced at Kitty.

"Sure. Why not?" came the heavily accented reply. YES! She triumphed internally. Still, a slight something nagged at her. Guilt? She wasn't sure, but it was something that told her she was getting as bad as Jubilee. I'm so going to Hell, she thought.

The conversation moved on, but she was aware the entire time of the undercurrent running below it all; the tension between two members of the group. Jubilee, she knew, was blissfully ignorant. She didn't think Rogue suspected anything but Illyana. Hmm. Beth couldn't decide one way or the other whether Illyana sensed it. She was rather quiet, but wasn't that her usual manner? She looked at her, only half-listening to the conversation, she was playing with Isabelle, who Beth had long ago transferred onto Illyana's lap, much to her delight. Looking at her daughter, she saw the intense gaze of curiosity that Isabelle had fastened upon the two in question. Could her seven month old daughter have picked up on their underlying tension? Not for the first time, Beth found herself wondering if the mother-daughter bond between them went slightly deeper than was normal. Nahhh, she dismissed it as paranoia. What other explanation was there?

Gazing out of the window blindly, deep in thought, Beth's sight kicked back in as she realised what she was looking at. A strange blur, zipping back and forth across the grounds. It shot off course across to a bag resting on a planter nearby.

Jean-Paul rifled through the bag and came up with a bottle of water, which he took his time downing. He chucked it back into the bag which he closed and swung back onto the planter before he zoomed off again. What is his deal? She wondered, sensing that here was more to Jean-Paul Beaubier than immediately met the eye. Hidden depths, she realised; which he guarded ferociously. She watched him for a while as he whizzed through his laps and eventually rocketed off in another direction, with his bag casually slung over a shoulder. She continued to stare out of the window at the spot where he had stood long after his departure, lost in her thoughts.


	9. Foreigners and Friends

_A/N: Huge thanks to Sarah, my wonderful multilingual friend, I have no idea how she manages to learn so many languages and not have her brain like explode with too much info! I know mine would! Lol. She did me a huge favour and corrected my terrible German! AND on my request she left Beth's a little imperfect as Beth is not a native speaker. Just had to mention that so if any German genius reads it they don't think she sucks. There is method to the madness and there is a reason! The German is not the best it could be, purely for effect! Lol._

_Oh yeah, in other news, this story no longer belongs to me. I have started university and in doing so, the University of Kent at Canterbury now owns my soul and any and all rights to any and all works I produce that they could conceivably want. So here's a big finger to The Man, I don't receive any revenue from this so they can't have any revenue from this! So there._

_Aside from that, uni rocks. But now, on with the story!_

Chapter 9: Foreigners And Friends

Some days later Beth had more or less forgotten Jean-Paul Beaubier in the course of life, but every now and then, she would spot him across the hall or something would shoot past the corner of her eye and the speed would remind her of him, bringing the puzzle he presented to the forefront of her mind. She simply couldn't figure him out. He seemed so anti-social, but Beth thought there was more to it than that. She didn't know if it was her trusting nature, wanting to believe the best in people or if the others just didn't see anything deeper because they didn't care.

She was pondering this as she left the kitchen carrying Isabelle and a dark blue young man entered, speaking German into his cell phone.

"Ja, ich auch. Tschüss."   
_Yes, me too. ("Chew-se")_ _Bye/ See ya_. He said and punched a button on his phone just as -

"Ooof!" They collided

" 'schuldigung."  
_Excuse me/ Sorry._ She muttered; speaking in the language she had just heard him using. He swung around to face her, his face arrested

"Wie bitte?"   
_Pardon?_ He said, his tone of voice intense

"Entschuldigung."   
_Excuse me/ Sorry_ She repeated and made to go through the doorway again.

"Du bist Deutsche?"   
_You're German?_ He asked; a vulnerable, almost wistful look on his face.

"Nein, tut mir Leid. Ich spreche nur die Sprache und nicht besonders gut."  
_Sorry, no. I only speak the language, and that not so well._

"Wie kannst du Deutsch?"   
_How do you know German? _He enquired

"Schule. Seit sieben Jahren lernte ich Deutsch. Sprachen liegen in der Familie - mein Bruder ist Übersetzer."  
_School. __I studied it for seven years. Languages run in the family, my brother is a translator._ She told him

"Echt? Na, dein Deutsch ist doch sehr gut."  
_Really? Well, I think your German's very good._

"Nein! Aber danke. Es freut mich, Deutsch wieder zu sprechen. Seit langem Zeit habe ich kein Deutsch gesprochen."  
_No! __But thanks. It's good to speak it again; it's been a long time._

"Ich weiß was du meinst. Deutsch kannst du immer mit mir sprechen."  
_I know what you mean. __Feel free to speak it with me anytime._

"Danke, ich werde. Oh, ich heiße Beth. Und sie, Isabelle."  
_Thanks. I will. Oh, my name's Beth. And this is Isabelle. _Beth introduced herself and her daughter.

"Sie ist schön. Ich heiße Kurt."  
_She's beautiful. I'm Kurt. _He replied

"Danke. Freut mich Kurt."  
_Thanks. __Nice to meet you Kurt. _

"Freut mich auch."  
_And you. _Kurt said as they each passed the doorway. As she slipped through, she caught a glimpse of the kitchen behind her; and everyone in it gaping at her. Grinning at their surprise, she continued on her way; and knew that everyone now knew she spoke German, and those that didn't, would soon. She laughed, shaking her head. She met Jean in the hall as planned and they went into the Salem Center. Jean had decided that Isabelle needed a pushchair, the Professor had agreed, and insisted on paying for it. They had also agreed it would be better for the pair if Isabelle had her own cot, instead of sharing Beth's bed all the time. She had protested at this, they had shared all the time they had been on the run; except at June and Bill's. It had never been a problem before; and Beth wasn't perfectly comfortable allowing the Professor to pay for everything. But as it had been pointed out, she couldn't afford it and he definitely could.

"Hey!" she greeted Jean as the older woman joined her in the hall.

"Hi. Well well well, you're full of surprises, aren't you?" Jean teased her

"Surprising a telepath? How often does that happen?" Beth asked, smiling

"Not often. You kept that quiet, no one knew you spoke German." Jean smiled conspiratorially.

"Well I guess they do now." Beth grinned "Shall we get going?"

"Sure." Jean led the way out to the car.

"Actually, I'm glad you've met Kurt now. Hank is going to a conference in Germany in about three weeks and Kurt's going with him. We wondered if you might like to go home for a week or so, as they're going to be in the area anyway." Jean offered. Beth froze.

"Urm…" was all she could say

"You can think about it of course. And, you know, any questions. As we don't know why the Marauders are after Isabelle, they are still a threat so we thought Rogue and Bobby could go with you."

"Mutant protection? I bet someone could make a killing off homo superior bodyguards." Beth joked half-heartedly, thinking hard. "I'd have to talk it over with my mum. Things got pretty crazy for a while before I left. All the mutant hysteria and everything, the Marauders, I don't know how people would react…if I just turned up again…"

"Well that's understandable of course. Give it a think, sleep on it, talk with your mom, you know, that's cool. You've got two weeks to decide anyway."

"'kay." Beth mumbled, deep in thought.

"Ngeee-AH!" Isabelle squealed from Beth's arms and waved her arms about. Both women smiled and Jean stroked the baby's cheek. She turned to start the car and Isabelle watched her intensely, mesmerised by the shining red of her hair. Beth grinned at this and played with her daughter's hand, which held her index finger in its baby-grip, as they sped away from the Mansion.

The two had an enjoyable time shopping, and Jean insisted on getting some clothes for both mother and daughter as well. They ate lunch in Starbucks, Isabelle amusing them with her wide-eyed curiosity and her ability to make a mess and spent their time grinning and laughing.

They were shopping for a pushchair, having already purchased a cot and loaded the heavy, cumbersome object into the car, proud of their success and declaring "Who needs men! We can do it ourselves!" in their girl-powered triumph; when Beth spotted all the adorable clothes and accessories for new-borns that she simply hadn't been able to afford for Isabelle. She felt a cloud beginning to loom and Jean picked up on this from the other side of the shop. She knew Beth's state of mind was much healthier and was improving all the time, but she wasn't there yet and Jean knew how easy it was for the young girl to slip into fits of depression. And who can blame her after everything she's been through, Jean thought. Working her way over to Beth, she laid a hand on her arm

"Are you okay?" she enquired. Beth looked into Jean's concerned eyes and felt a rush of appreciation for the Mother Hen of the X-Men, ever caring. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"I'm fine. Just, I wish I could have done better for her. I mean, look at the start in life I gave her. Leaves a lot to be desired."

"That wasn't your fault." Jean told her firmly, reassuring her young friend. "Look at the start you gave her. It takes a huge amount of courage and strength to do what you did, and a huge amount of love as motivation. If she grows up knowing the start she had in life, what you did for her; your daughter will always know she is loved. And it's made you grow as a person. I didn't know you before, but you know it, deep down, how else could I know? It was an ordeal, it was Hell, but you coped. Do you have any idea how strong a person has to be to handle something like that? A lot of people couldn't have.

You want to know the truth? I admire you. That strength, it's there, all the time. In you. So you're having a bit of a hard time seeing the bright side lately. So what? Doesn't make you any less of a good person, or a good mother or anything. Just makes you human."

Tears welled in Beth's eyes.

"Thanks Jean. I needed to hear that." She whispered, her voice choked with emotion.

"Hey, no problem. What are friends for?" The beautiful redhead replied and hugged her. They separated and Beth brushed her tears away as the pair laughed at the face Isabelle pulled at being squished, the baby's fluffy hair sticking up all over the place as usual.

"Come on, let's make it up to her. She might not have had the best of everything when you guys were running for your lives, but the X-Men are looking after you now; let's go mad! She deserves the best." Jean whispered in her ear with a big grin on her face.

"Okay." Beth laughed.

"Okay! Let's shop!" Jean grinned, enthused; an almost maniacal glee on her face at the idea.

Together they picked out a beautiful buggy, top of the line, and paid for it with Xavier's 'school' credit card, authorised to few, stolen by many.

"How does the Professor afford all this?" Beth asked, her curiosity finally overcoming her reservations about asking about his financial situation.

"Well, he has his estate; the Mansion has been in his family for generations. But Forge has donated several patents to the school fund. Which of course is a constant income."

"Who's Forge?" Beth asked

"He's one of the X-Men, but he isn't an active member if you like. Battle isn't his forte, he's an inventor. It's part of his mutation, on a sub-conscious level, he can see patterns and things like that. He's invented many things, weapons, some used by us, some sold to the government, and everyday household items. Those are the ones that bring in revenue. I'm not surprised you haven't met him yet; he keeps to himself mostly, like Hank, always working. So you see, you needn't feel bad about accepting the Professor's financial aid. He has more than enough."

Her conscience slightly relieved, Beth felt far less guilt about letting the Professor pay for the few things they had bought.

"Right. I think that's everything. I have to be back at the Mansion, I have detention duty, you ready to go?" Jean asked, as the day turned into late afternoon

"Well, I would like to stay for a bit longer, is there a bus or anything?" Beth asked in reply.

"Yes, but here, take this and get a cab." said Jean, handing her some notes.

"You sure? I can easily just get the bus." Beth asked.

"Yeah, it'll be safer. In fact," Jean hesitated and bit her lip. "I wonder if it might be too dangerous to leave you on your own. The Marauders are still out there. Or their clones at least." They looked at each for a little while, each debating the issue in their own minds. Jean wanted to indulge Beth's desire to stay a bit longer, knowing how far she had come to feel comfortable enough with public places, and to stay on her own. Beth just wanted to stay a bit longer while she had the courage to be there in the first place. It had been a long time since she had been to a shopping centre, she had loved to just sit there and just absorb the atmosphere. That seemed a lifetime ago.

"Hmm. It's a risk." Jean told her

"I can't take risks where Isabelle is concerned." Beth stated.

"I know." Jean agreed. A short pause followed and Beth said

"It's not that big a deal, I'll just come home with you."

"Yeah but I'm sure there must be another option, I…" she trailed off. Suddenly, she swung her head round, looking sharply to her left, obviously having picked something up telepathically, if the intense concentration and importance on her face was anything to go by. Which it was.

"There's another mutant here." Jean filled Beth in. A frown nagged at her forehead as she searched telepathically. A few moments more and Jean's face cleared.

"It's okay, it's Jean-Paul." She paused then an idea came to her. "Hey, we could ask him to keep an eye out for you. If you got in trouble, he could just whisk you guys away. Although what's the betting that nothing will happen now that you have back-up? Murphy's law." Jean said.

"Well, it's better than risking it. And you know if we risk it now without asking him, something will happen and we'll kick ourselves." Beth pointed out. Jean grinned.

"Yup." She replied. "Okay, I'll ask him." She closed her eyes briefly as she connected to the Canadian mentally. Beth could see her eyes flickering behind their lids. Her mouth worked as if she was trying not to smile at his response. She opened her eyes.

"He'll meet you. He shouldn't be too long, and is aiming to be back around 6. That okay?"

"It's perfect." Beth smiled.

"Right, I've really got to go. He should be here very shortly. But of course he can't use his power in public." Jean said, standing.

"Yeah of course." Beth understood

"Okay, see ya Little One." Jean smiled and tickled Isabelle who gurgled in reply. "See ya later." She said to Beth, still smiling.

"Bye. And Jean? Thanks so much. I had a great time today. And thanks for, for what you said." Beth told Jean. The older woman smiled warmly at her young friend and a soft look came into her eyes.

"It was my pleasure." And with that she turned and left. Beth looked around the café where she sat and finished her coffee, jiggling the arm that held Isabelle. She looked at her watch and decided to wait outside for Jean-Paul the air in the café was hot and stifled; everyone was in winter clothes and the heaters were going full blast.

She stepped out into the cool February air and took a deep breath. Fresher than the café, but there was a road right in front of her so it left a lot to be desired. Spotting something in the shop window opposite, she looked around. Jean-Paul wasn't there yet, but she would see him from across the road; she was only going to look in the window. She crossed carefully, cradling Isabelle, her handbag slung over her shoulder. When she got there, she peered through the glass. Just as she thought. The guitar was beautiful. She wondered if she knew how long it had been since she'd played, and longed to hold it, to touch the wood, to feel the strings beneath her fingers. How long she stood there, lost in thought, she would never know but suddenly her head jerked up and she saw Jean-Paul striding down the street towards the café. Damn. She knew he'd be pissed if he went in there, crowded, cramped. He was already going out of his way to meet her and she didn't want him to be pissed off at her. She still wanted to find out what was behind Jean-Paul Beaubier. He intrigued her and she wanted to get to know him, be his friend. She hurried towards him calling his name as she went. But he didn't hear.

"Jean-Paul!" she shouted but over the hustle and bustle, he didn't hear. "Jean-Paul!" she shouted as she broke into an almost-run. Jogging, dodging shoppers, she called his name again before she dashed out. She almost saw it in slow-motion, he caught his name at the last second, just as he put his hand on the door-handle; turned his head just in time to see her, not more than a few yards from danger, to see the car heading straight for her. Shock and horror slapped his face before he pelted out across the busy road and shot in front of the hunk of metal that was rocketing through the air with enough force to pummel them to Kingdom Come; whisking her and her daughter from the jaws of death. Beth saw the car for a split-second, as if it was nothing more than a snapshot then a blur of white and colour as her eyes struggled to get a purchase on the world shooting by.

Suddenly, everything was still. There was a fuzzy shape in front of her and when her vision finally cleared, Jean-Paul came into focus.

"Bloody hell." She breathed. And fainted clean away.


	10. Secrets

Chapter 10: Secrets

When she came to Beth, didn't know where she was. Propped up against a short concrete wall, her head lolling back on the top of the wall, Jean-Paul's hands on each side of her face, holding her head steady. She frowned and groaned, sitting up. He released her and leaned back where he was perfectly balanced on nothing more than his toes, bobbing next to her.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily, then panicked "Where's Isabelle!"

"The baby? She's right here." He replied, gesturing to where her daughter lay at her side.

"Thank God." Beth reached over and lifted her "How did we get here?" Looking around her, Beth saw building tops and the sky. It looked as though they were on a roof somewhere, a car park.

"Well, you fainted. What with that and my little mutant power display in the whole saving-of-your-lives thing, people started to make a fuss. So we had to jet." He told her snippily then continued angrily

"You stupid bitch! What in the HELL possessed you to go running into the middle of the road like that! If I hadn't been there, they'd be peeling you off the street right now! Both of you!"

"Hey, if you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been running into the road in the first place!" she shot back, he was furious and she responded in kind.

"Yeah well it's not like I had a choice! Babysitting a teenage ditz and her sprog is hardly my idea of a good time." he retorted. They sat there glaring at each other for a second before she stumbled to her feet and he stepped back, rising elegantly. They glared.

"Shit!" she swore and kicked the wall.

"What's your problem?" he sniped

"Well, it's not like I make a habit of walking under cars! And then I _bloody well_ fainted! How much more of an inane Mary-Sue could I plausibly be!" she raged.

He sniggered. "Point. Although, sorry to disappoint but I'm gay, that kind of defeats the purpose of the Mary-Sue. No screwing."

"Who said you were the lead male?" She shot back. He smiled and snort-laughed. She shook her head, smiling.

"Man." She sat back down against the wall and sighed. She closed her eyes and was silent a moment.

"I can't believe I did that." She turned tortured eyes to her rescuer.

"I could have killed us both." He sat down next to her

"But you didn't. So don't worry about it." He stated matter-of-factly.

"But -"

"No buts. Everyone does stupid things now and again, luckily there were no consequences this time. You'll be more careful next time. Well, you will, or you'll wind up seriously dead. So." He declared. "Subject closed. Actually, I just gotta ask, what the hell were you thinking? WHY?"

"Well, I wanted to get to you before you went in that crowded, stifling café and I wasn't there. I thought you'd be pissed off." She confessed.

"Geez! No wonder I don't screw chicks!" he exclaimed.

Her brow furrowed and her jaw dropped angrily in outrage, but at the last moment she caught the mischievous glint in his eyes. He was joking. She snorted. And giggled. And laughed out loud. He chuckled. Isabelle gurgled and squealed, joining in the mirth. After a little while, they calmed down again and Beth said softly

"Hey, thanks. I mean, if it weren't for you… you saved our lives. How can I ever thank you enough?"

"Don't worry about it. Hey, I'm one of the X-Men, it's in the job description. Save the world, rescue damsels in distress, beat the bad guys, look absolutely gorgeous while doing so; it all comes with the turf." He joked. She laughed. He smiled. The baby looked wondrously between the two.

"You're Beth right? Sorry, there's a LOT of names to remember."

"Oh that's okay, I know exactly how that feels. I've not been here that long myself. Yeah, I'm Beth, and this is Isabelle." She told him, and looked lovingly at her daughter, cradled in her arms. The baby squealed happily at him.

He turned abruptly away and stared moodily out over the wall, jaw clenched.

"Are you ready to go back to the Mansion yet, _your Highness_?" he practically spat at her, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Her head jerked back as though she had been physically slapped

"Ready when you are." She ground out, glaring sullenly at the surly mutant, who was glowering at the sunset.

When they arrived back at the Mansion, they were both still in a bad mood. Beth's had in fact worsened, as Jean-Paul had flown them back to the Mansion and was none too concerned, it felt to her, with her comfort or safety. Jean was beginning to wonder if they were okay, they had been longer than Jean-Paul had said and was passing through the hall just as it burst open. Jean-Paul stormed through, his face like thunder; followed by Beth who stalked through the door, slamming it behind her. Her face was set, equally moody, and she nearly slammed into a lone student who was innocently passing through the hall

"Hey!" came the indignant cry as Beth marched through.

"Sorry." She replied, not sounding it at all.

"Hey Beth? Is everything… okay?" Jean stepped in

"Just peachy!" came the reply, Beth's head jerking perkily, her ponytail bouncing as she stormed on.

Jean raised her eyebrows and turning, jogged after her.

"Hey Beth." She tried again. "What exactly happened after I left?"

"I encountered Jean-Paul Beaubier." Beth managed to sound both moody and matter-of-fact at the same time.

"And that's all?" Jean checked

"You've met the man. Does there need to be more?" she replied snippily. Jean suppressed a giggle.

"I suppose not."

Beth sank into a kitchen chair and sighed.

"What did he do?" Jean asked.

"Well…" Beth hesitated "He saved my life." She said grudgingly "I ran out into the road and he… he used his power to save me." Beth's bad mood had disappeared and as she continued she just sounded weary "Then he had a go at me and I had a go at him and then we were getting on and I thanked him for saving my life. And then we were talking and he just flipped. Was all 'your highness' sarcy git. For absolutely NO reason." Beth ended bitterly.

"There must have been a reason? What exactly were you talking about?" Jean asked

"Urhhh, being new to the Mansion and not being able to remember names."

"Hmmm. And he just, 'flipped'?"

"Well not as in _flipped out_, as in his mood just _flipped_, like flipping a switch."

"Hmmm. How did you get onto that?" Jean asked, trying to figure it out

"He wasn't sure of my name." Beth replied

"So you introduced yourself…" and a note of understanding flooded Jean's voice "And Isabelle!"

"Yeah, that's a big deal why?" Beth asked, puzzled.

Isabelle began to grizzle and moan and Beth jiggled her around trying to quieten her.

Jean took a deep breath

"Normally, I wouldn't be telling you this. It's not exactly ethical; as Jean-Paul didn't tell me. He hasn't spoken about it to anyone here which makes what I'm doing even worse. What I know, I read in his book, and I, well, 'overheard' his thoughts once, for want of a better word; and I'm about to tell you something very close to his heart, something he doesn't talk about. But I'm going to tell you because I think, of all people, you're the only one that can help him."

"I do know he's gay, you know." Beth joked. Jean smiled.

"That's pretty much common knowledge." Jean agreed "I saw you, you know. When he arrived. Out of all the people there, you were the only one that, _defended_ him, if you like. Jubilee, as usual, didn't waste any time spreading the latest gossip and his life-history as far as she knew. But you, you wanted to believe the best of him, despite his reputation. You went out of your way to be friendly and welcome him. You were the only one."

"Well, that's not particularly special. It just reflects badly on everyone else." Beth protested

"I suppose there is some truth in that. But the point is, you were right. There are a lot of reasons behind why Jean-Paul is the way he is. And one of those reasons, is the reason he changed so unexpectedly on you today. He was hurting. Very badly. And to hide it, he pushed you away, he covered it with sarcasm." Beth was silent, serious, listening now to Jean whole-heartedly. Even Isabelle had quietened, looking between the two adults with interest.

"You see, Jean-Paul had a daughter. She died." A look of shock, sadness and sympathy clouded Beth's face. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"So that's why he reacted so badly when you mentioned Isabelle." Jean continued

"He was hurting. No wonder." Beth murmured. "How did she…?"

"She had Aids. He found her in a dumpster. When they diagnosed it, they thought that was why her mother, or her parents, dumped her. It broke Jean-Paul's heart for her to have no one in the world. He thought she had enough to deal with. So he adopted her, and loved her as much as he could for the short time he had her. He did everything he could for her but in the end it wasn't enough. He hasn't forgotten her, and he never will. She was his daughter in every way that matters." Jean said sadly, her heart heavy.

Beth too, felt the sadness of the situation and her own heart cried out in sympathy for him, and the poor baby, hardly given a chance in life.

"Oh God." was all she could say. "Oh God." She murmured.

She couldn't begin to understand what the poor guy had gone through. All she knew was it would totally destroy her to lose Isabelle and if what she imagined she would feel was anything close to what Jean-Paul had felt, he must have gone through utter Hell.

"Thank you for telling me Jean. If you hadn't told me, I doubt I would have given him a second chance."

"Yes, you would have. Once you'd stopped being mad."

Later, when they all assembled for dinner, like vultures around a carcass, she saw him again, across the room. She studied him for a second, observing from the safety of a crowd. Activity was all around her but she couldn't hear it, didn't pay any attention. Because now she could see what she had looked so hard for before and missed. The clues to the mystery behind Jean-Paul Beaubier. She saw the sadness in his sharp eyes, the lines around his mouth telling of deep unhappiness; the grief in his very step. And she knew. He was hurting so very much. And then someone asked him something, interrupting his silent brooding, and he lashed out, to hide it. The person turned away, offended, as she had been. And she knew. He was hiding his pain. That's all.


	11. Chick Flicks and Angels

_A/N – Disclaimer: I sob do NOT own Pirates of the Carribean, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp Sob or Orlando Bloom SOB; much as this pains me, I do not own them. They belong to themselves, the movie studio and/or whichever Higher Being they sold their Soul to. Sad to say, tear drips down face and onto keyboard this is not me. Oh how I wish it was._

_Anyhoo, on with the story!_

Chapter 11: Chick-Flicks and Angels

Beth went into the kitchen with Isabelle sitting on her hip, supporting her back carefully as the baby was still young and although she was quickly gaining the strength to sit up on her own, she was struggling to keep her balance.

Rogue was sat at the table, but most of the others had long finished breakfast.

"Morning." Beth said as she joined her friend, grabbing a bottle from the fridge on the way.

"Hey." Rogue greeted Beth as she settled her daughter with her bottle.

"Hey Gorgeous!" Rogue cooed at the baby. In response, Isabelle regarded her solemnly with big wide eyes as she drank, wiggling her outstretched fingers.

"She is the sweetest thing Ah've ever seen. An' every time Ah think 'Oh that's the cutest thing ever' she just goes and does somethin' even more adorable!" Beth smiled

"Welcome to my life." Rogue laughed and Beth chuckled as she fed her daughter. "So, anything interesting happen since yesterday?" Beth enquired

"Well… yer better off askin' Jubilee but as she aint here, Ah suppose Ah'm all ya got. Urm, let's see, Bobby put 'foaming sugah' in the sugah bowl again. Cyke wasn' impressed." Beth laughed out loud at the image that created in her mind. "Urm, Ah can't think of much else ya missin'..."

"Cool." Beth replied.

"Ah got an email from Gambit." Beth raised her eyebrows

"Oh?"

"He says his mission is gonna take a good while yet. He's undercover right now, s'why Ah haven't heard much from him. He's already been gone too long fer mah liking. But then again, our relationship always seems ta work better long-distance. When we get close-up, sparks tend ta fly. An' not jus' 'cause o' his powers." Rogue confessed miserably.

"Awww hey, come on. Who needs guys anyway?" Beth tried to cheer her up

"What do you say to a girlie-day? We can paint each others' nails and watch chick-flicks and eat junk-food and hey, I'll even let you coo over Izzy." Rogue laughed and Beth continued, wheedling "Come on, I know you don't have class today, and you don't have training 'til like 5. What do you say?"

"Okay." Rogue agreed, laughing. "Okay, we'll do it. As long as Ah can pick the movie!"

"Deal!" Beth laughed. They smiled conspiratorially and Isabelle finished her bottle. Beth sat her up and burped her, rubbing her back gently.

"Would you mind…?" Beth asked

"Sure!" Rogue took the baby in her gloved hands and sat her on her knee. She remembered how nervous she had been at first around the baby, but now she was so used to being around her, and they were pretty safe as long as Rogue wore her gloves and was reasonably well covered up. She hated her power, on a daily basis. Yeah, she'd gotten used to it by now, but it wasn't any easier watching everyone else and their normal, casual but oh-so-important everyday touches. She shook her head, banishing the negative thoughts. She jiggled her knee and Isabelle gurgled. She smiled. Beth returned with her own bowl of cereal and took Isabelle back. She had developed the knack of doing everything one-handed during her short time as a mother. Rogue returned to her own bowl. Glancing up, she giggled, gesturing to Isabelle's hair with her spoon

"Six months old an' already a trendsetter! Love her 'do!" Beth laughed. The 'do' in question was fluffy baby hair, browny-red and downy, sticking up every which way.

"It just does it! No matter what I do. Still, these things are hereditary; my mum says my hair was like that when I was a baby."

"Has she seen Isabelle's?" Rogue asked innocently. But it churned up lot of feelings in Beth, feelings that it was just far too early in the morning for.

"No." she replied, a wealth of emotion in that single word as guilt washed through her. Her mum, her own mother hadn't seen Isabelle since she was a month old. She brushed off the feelings. There was nothing she could do about it now. But it made up her mind about the issue she had been wrestling with for a while. She was going to go home.

"Rogue? Has Jean spoken to you about a trip to England?" she asked.

"Yeah, she mentioned it. Said ya hadn't made up yer mind yet."

"Well, I just did. I can't pass up the opportunity, it's not fair to my family. It'll be nice to see them again."

"Yeah." Rogue said, but refused to let herself dwell on her own family. "An' hey, Ah'm happy, Ah get ta go ta England!" Beth smiled

"You know, it's rubbish really right? Those films are all romanticised, absolutely nothing like real life at all?"

"Yeah, but Ah still wanna go." Rogue wheedled.

"Okay, far be it for me to deny you." Beth teased.

"Yay!" Rogue whooped then moaned. "But we still got a fortnight to wait, don't we?"

"Yeah." Beth said and sighed. A part of her couldn't wait to see her family again, especially her mother; but another part of her dreaded facing what she had left behind her and she knew that was the part that would get stronger the nearer the time grew.

Oblivious, Rogue turned back to Isabelle and compared mother and daughter.

"She looks like ya, ya know. Definitely got a baby-version o' ya nose. Hmm, her eyes are blue, but aren't they all at that age?"

"Yup, if their eyes are gonna change colour, they do it before they reach a year-old usually. But I was a freak, mine were blue 'til I was like three." Beth told her friend.

Rogue's brow creased, concernedly

"That doesn't make ya a freak sugah." Beth looked up and saw her face

"Oh no, I meant," Beth said apologetically "Like, good freak, unique. Like, who-the-hell-wants-to-be-normal-and-boring kind of freak. I really need to watch that here don't I?" Rogue's only response was a smile. They turned back to scrutinising Isabelle, who was loving the attention, the way babies do.

"She's got your colouring, no doubt, that English Rose complexion. So jealous. Her hair's actually a little redder than yours isn't it? Now Ah actually look, ya can definitely see a red tint in there can't ya?"

"Yeah, you can." Beth said thoughtfully. "Hmm, well, that'll be her dad anyway. But it's strange, I didn't notice that at all 'til just now, but you're right. She's definitely got some red in there."

Logan strolled in and grabbed a cold chicken leg from the refrigerator and leaned against the counter.

"How's the little darlin' today?" he asked, as he raised the meat to his mouth and devoured it, teeth ripping, chewing, chomping, animalistic.

"She's good. Sleeping through the night, now we're settled. Thank goodness. And how are you after last night Logan? I suppose it's too much to hope that you suffer hangovers?"

"Yup. I'm doin' great kid."

"Can you believe this guy? Drinks all night and doesn't even have to face the consequences. Life just isn't fair." Beth said.

"An' whadda YOU know about drinkin' all night? Ya're not old enough." Rogue pointed out.

"Not in this country perhaps. But in the U.K., France and Germany, to name just a few I've spent time in, drinking as much as you like as often as you like is completely legal at 18. Not that anyone pays any attention to that though. My group of friends were late starters in that we started drinking at 16, not 14 like the comp kids."

"Comp kids?" Rogue asked

"Comprehensive. It's like a normal high school. As in not private." Logan filled her in as he reached for a second Chicken drumstick.

"Yeah. You've been to England?" Beth asked

"I've been everywhere." The mysterious warrior replied before leaving "See ya kids."

Exchanging intrigued glances, the girls followed him out of the room and went into the Rec. room, where Beth lay Isabelle on the floor. The baby immediately rolled over and pushed herself up on her cute little baby-arms, looking about her, reminding them of a cockatoo, her crazy hair and wide eyes.

"I'm sure that's a yoga move." Beth commented as Rogue perused the DVD collection. She looked at Isabelle lying on her front, but her torso stretching up and holding her upper body away from the floor and smiled.

"Yeah. Looks familiar ta mih too." She agreed

"Yoga master before she's a year old. She certainly is a special girl." Beth joked. "Right, while you pick a film, Isabelle and I shall go and grab make up and nail polish and stuff."

"Well if ya don't wanna disturb her, Ah can keep an eye on her." Rogue offered. Beth smiled at her friend.

"Thanks darl." And she dashed upstairs.

When she returned, Rogue had shut the curtains and the room had taken on a cinema-like atmosphere. She dumped the stuff at the foot of the couch, scooped up her daughter and joined Rogue on the sofa.

"What are we watching?" she asked

"Ah'll give ya a hint." came the answer "The most beautiful men in thah _entire _Universe, wearing Eyeliner!"

"Pirates of the Caribbean! Oh man, I love that film!" Beth shrieked excitedly

"Ah know! Me too!" Rogue drawled, equally excited

Rogue ran to the kitchen to fetch some snacks whilst Beth loaded the disc into the machine. She heard the door and turned to see the most beautiful man she had ever seen walk through the doorway. The world sort of slowed and for a second she had trouble forming coherent thought. He was an Angel. Right down to the wings. Seriously. She blinked. Yup, he actually had perfect, white, Angelic wings stretching out behind him. His eyes flicked up and down her and he smiled friendlily. He came over and extended his hand.

"Hi, you must be Beth. I'm Warren Worthington, the Third." He told her with a charming grin

"Hi, I'm Beth." She said automatically then cringed as she realised her mistake "Obviously. Nice to meet you." She shook his hand

"Is this your daughter?" he asked, gesturing to where Isabelle squiggled on the floor.

"Yup, that's Isabelle."

"She's a beauty." Warren Worthington the Third told her. "Not unlike her mother." She laughed a little at that and blushed, unused to such obvious flattery.

"Uh yeah. Right." She laughed it off.

"Yeah. Right." He replied, seriously. Luckily Rogue came to her rescue just then by returning with a huge bowl filled with lots of junk-food goodness.

"Flyboy! Scat sugah, this is a girl's day!" the Southern Belle commanded. He simply raised an eyebrow, his head cocked to one side

"Oh?" he questioned

"Yeah!" she replied "So get!"

"What are you girls up to?" he asked, ignoring Rogue like an annoying little Chihuahua yapping at his heels.

"We're just watching movies." Beth told him.

"An' then we'll be paintin' nails an' doin' make-up, an' guess who'll be our new guinea-pig if he hangs around pesterin' us long enough?" Rogue threatened sweetly, short and petite beside Warren's tall frame. He raised both his eyebrows sceptically at her words

"But then again, fer a guy who _likes_ ta wear robes and a wig, maybe drag isn't such the punishment it could be. But we're smart girls, Ah'm sure we could think o' sumthin'."

"Okay, enough! I'm gone!" Warren protested, and left, winking at Beth on his way out. Her heart racing and feeling distinctly unsettled, but before she could really react, a male voice interrupted them from behind.

"He's into drag? Well now, it seems we learn something everyday." The girls looked up to see Jean-Paul smirking in the doorway.

Rogue clarified, "When he came out as a mutant, his boarding school was burning down so he disguised himself as an Angel, complete with long blonde wig, then went to save everyone."

"Awww. That's so cute!" was Beth's response, while Jean-Paul's was a muttered

"Attention-whore."

"Well aren't we a little ray of sunshine!" Beth teased Jean-Paul. "We were just about to watch two of the most gorgeous men in the world, do you want to join us?"

He considered it for a second before he conceded, "Sure, why not? I have to keep tabs on the competition." He replied with a wry smile, earning himself a grin and a laugh from Beth, a gurgle from Isabelle and even a reluctant giggle from Rogue. They all settled down together and Beth hugged her knees, sighing happily as the film began.

They watched, enraptured; lost in the magic of the movie and the beauty of one Johnny Depp, watched the gorgeousness of Orlando Bloom running around in wet clothes to save the life of the woman he loves until -

"What's this, ladies night? Enjoying yourself Johnny?" a voice rumbled from the doorway. The girls looked up to see Logan stood there, smirking

"Oh go wax your back!" Jean-Paul sniped at his old friend without diverting his attention from the screen for a moment. Logan chuckled and perched on the arm of the settee for a while, watching. Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp pranced around on a beach, drunkenly singing pirate songs. The sleeping face of Captain Jack Sparrow filled the screen and his nose twitched as he smelt smoke. At this, Logan casually commented, "You know, I could so go for that Johnny Depp. He is certainly very pretty." Before leaving the room, leaving Jean-Paul chuckling madly and shaking his head at the joke; the girls stared after the short Canadian, gob-smacked expressions on their faces.

"_**WHY is the rum gone?"** _an outraged pirate demanded of the room, pulling them back into his world and as the beautiful, feisty and oh, so English Elizabeth Swann replied

_"One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into scoundrels. Two, that signal flare is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out there looking for me -- do you think there is even the slightest chance they won't see it?"_

The gorgeous pirate stormed off and as the mysterious Captain Jack Sparrow crested a sand dune, spotting the ship she had been signalling; he muttered

"_**There'll be no living with her after this!"**_

And the audience of three let out a blissful sigh as one; as the god more commonly known as Johnny Depp graced the screen with his enigmatic presence.


	12. Coffee Break

_A/N: "Suzette" belongs to me and is dedicated to my wonderful laptop, Suzette, who is more like an actual person to me now, we've spent so many hours together, working late into the night. Eternal thanks. lol._

Chapter 12:

Beth woke with a start from her nightmare and took a deep breath. Her eyes acclimatised to the darkness of the night around her and she reached for Isabelle. Who wasn't there. Her heart stopped and panic gripped her in its sickening fist. She sat bolt upright, hearing her pulse thudding loudly in her ears above the silence of the night.

Then as she woke up completely, she realised where she was. She was in her room at the Xavier Mansion and Isabelle was safe, just a few metres away in her new cot. After she had reassured herself her daughter actually was safe and sound, fast asleep in her cot; she lay back in bed, closing her eyes, willing herself to calm down, her heartbeat to return to normal. But as adrenaline coursed through her system, she couldn't sleep again. She sat up and watched her precious child sleeping, as thoughts tumbled around her tired brain. It had been only a week since she and Jean had bought the new cot but she had completely lost count of how many times she had awoken in the night, panicking for her baby's safety. She hardly slept some nights. It's only been a week, she told herself, it will get better. You're just not used to it yet. But as she watched the dawn spread its first rays across the room, she found herself wondering if that was just wishful thinking.

Beth eventually got a little more sleep before Isabelle decided it was time to get up. It wasn't until late morning that Beth got a moment to herself when Isabelle decided to take a nap. She hooked a baby monitor to her belt and headed downstairs to join break-time at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children, or 'recess' as Beth had discovered they called it. At present the student body was enjoying a rare day of pale sunshine and mild weather, the first of the year. The kitchen was serving as staff-room to the poor mutants frazzled from a hard morning's work, wrangling the intellects of the next generation. As Beth reached where Bobby stood, next to the all-important coffee pot, the central point of the kitchen, that all adults gravitated towards, Jean reached it too. She looked up with a smile to greet her young friend but it faded at what she saw in Beth's face.

"Don't ask." Beth told her.

"I'm going to anyway. You look exhausted. Are you sleeping, at all?"

"Yes." Beth replied, a little defensively. "Just not for long." She admitted. She looked at Jean's face, stubborn and demanding she expand on her comment and confessed "I keep waking in the night and panicking because Izzy's not there. Then I can't get back to sleep. It's no big deal, I just need to get used to her having her own bed is all. Maybe going home will help."

"Oh? You made up your mind?" Jean asked interestedly

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention it earlier."

"Excellent! Look out England, here comes the Bobbster!" Bobby crowed. Jean and Beth giggled.

"'Look out' is right. What have we done, inflicting him on the entire country?" Jean joked

"Think less 'entire country', more 'tiny little country town in the middle of nowhere' and you'll be closer to the truth." Beth informed them. Bobby looked slightly crestfallen

"Middle of… nowhere?"

"Well, perhaps I exaggerate. There's a bigger town only half an hour away and it has pretty much everything, cinemas, shopping malls, you get the gist." Beth conceded. Bobby looked relieved. Jean looked at him and shook her head, smiling.

"Good, for a minute there you had me worrying we were leaving civilisation as we know it." Bobby said dramatically, his hand clutched to his heart.

"Meaning, farm tracks his rust-bucket couldn't cope with." Beth teased

"Hey! Suzette is vintage! And she doesn't like being referred to as 'the rust-bucket'" he defended his car.

"Yeah she's vintage. If vintage means scrapheap-chic." Beth teased sweetly. He mock-glared and she smiled nicely and lifted her coffee cup to drink. But as she discovered, it is impossible to drink a liquid that has been frozen solid.

"BOBBY!" she exclaimed and swatted him. He leapt backwards to avoid further violence towards his person, crowing

"Ha ha-ha-ha ha-ha-har! The almighty Iceman strikes again!"

"Well the almighty Beth will strike again, as in strike you, if you don't unfreeze this right now!" she threatened. He smiled sweetly

"Sorry, no can do." He didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

She growled, irritated, and dumped her cup on the side, reaching for another mug and filling it with the dark aromatic Elixir of Life. She glared at Bobby as she added milk and sugar to her second cup. He in turn gave her his most-charming, cheesiest grin. Jean shook her head at the pair, laughing quietly. Just then the sound of an explosion filtered in from outside and turning, they saw two students embroiled in a struggle, their powers actually more of a hindrance than a help. Jean's face set.

"Excuse me." She said as she went outside. They watched through the window as she worked her way between the students in the courtyard to break up the fight and deal with the boys.

"Ooh, they gon' get it!" A southern voice sang behind the two of them. They turned to see their friend join them.

"Course, Bobby knows bettah than anyone what Jean's like when she's mad." Rogue teased, and turned to Beth "Ya wouldn't believe some o' thah things he's done."

"**_I_** don't believe some of the things he's done and I've been witness to most of them!" Warren joined the conversation. Bobby responded by sticking his tongue out. Warren slapped a hand to his heart, as if mortally wounded.

"Oh the maturity of it all!" he exclaimed before turning to Beth

"So did you girls enjoy your film yesterday?"

"Yes, we did indeed." Beth replied, colouring a little and smiling. "What did you get up to?" she enquired politely.

"Not much, just training." came the nonchalant reply.

"Funny kind of training!" Bobby teased, "You sat on your ass all day!" Warren gave him a warning look and Bobby returned a puzzled one, but shut up all the same.

"So what kind of films do you like? Just chick-flicks or are your tastes slightly wider than our dear Rogue's?" Warren changed the subject, turning back to Beth

"Watch it Flyboy!" Rogue responded warningly. Beth almost giggled

"Well actually I studied Film for a while, I'm quite into it. And that does involve watching a variety of genres, even ones I don't enjoy."

"Such as?"

"Horror. War. Everything else I pretty much like, but those are just too nasty for me. Not too keen on gruesome stuff either. Makes me a terrible film student, I'm lucky it's just a hobby." She joked

"What do you think of Foreign films?" Warren asked, paying a lot of attention to Beth. Rogue moved towards Bobby and muttered under her breath

"_Is it jess' me or is he bein' totally obvious?"_

"_He definitely wants in her pants." _Bobby agreed _"She doesn't seem to notice how, sleazily blatant, he's being."_ He moved slightly, away from Warren and Beth and Rogue leaned a little in the same direction.

"_Ah know! Ah'm not sure Ah can believe she don't realise."_

"_How is that possible?" _ Bobby wondered

"_Well, Ah know she hasn't had any real male attention since Isabelle's father. That's like over a year. Maybe, Ah dunno, she's gotten un-used ta it?"_

"_But still, come on, he's being way obvious!" _ Bobby argued under his breath. Rogue shrugged.

"… independent cinema's doing a foreign film series, you know a movie from a different director each week." Warren was saying

"And, well next weekend, it's Pedro Almodovar-"

"You're kidding! Really? Oh my gosh, he's one of my _favourite_ directors!" Beth enthused

"Oh? Well, I was thinking we could maybe do something, so, d'ya wanna go together?"Warren asked smoothly.

"Urm, sure. Sounds good to me!" Beth agreed with a smile, albeit a slightly hesitant one.

"Cool. It's a date." Warren winked, before he left, his wings rustling majestically as he moved.

The three of them stood there, stunned, for a second before Beth broke the silence

"When he said, 'It's a date.' Did he mean…?"

"Oh boy yah." Bobby supplied, whilst Rogue nodded in agreement. Beth took a deep breath

"Right." She said, in a slightly breathless tone of voice. "I may go check on Izzy. Or maybe just sit down." She raised a hand in farewell as she excused herself. Rogue dashed after her

"Hey Beth? Are ya okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Just a little… overwhelmed."

"D'ya actually _wanna_ date Warren?"

"Yes, it should be fun, and he seems lovely. It's just a little, overwhelming. It's been over a year and a half since I went on a date, I guess I'm just a little thrown. I'll be fine. See you later." But even as she spoke she sounded a little dazed. Rogue nodded and returned to the kitchen, still concerned, as Beth headed up the stairs again.


	13. Boys Will Be Boys

Chapter 13: Boys Will Be Boys

There was a brief lull of peace over the mansion, the likes of which was rarely seen. The students were studying or relaxing, the teachers likewise. Everyone was more-or-less happy and there were no teenage dramas unfolding or threats to mankind invading the lives of the Xavier-Mansion residents. But as with such pauses, it was short-lived. A breathing space and nothing more.

"OH. MY. GOD." Jubilee was surfing the net in the library, with Kitty doing the same nearby; Rogue and Beth playing chess and Illyana was playing with the baby. They were all used to such outbursts and ignored it for a few seconds before one of them eventually gave an unconcerned, cursory

"What?"

"You will NOT believe this, I just googled Bobby and-"

"Ya jess' 'googled' him? What on Earth is that supposed to mean?" Rogue queried

"I entered his name in Google. Duh. Anyway, you would not BELIEVE what it came up with!" Jubilee replied, getting more and more excited with every passing second. This latest statement attracted slightly more attention from the girls than her previous jabberings and they looked up from their respective activities.

"Well? What does the net have on our dear Iceman? Kitty enquired, not breaking her gaze from her own beloved computer.

"Hard Rake dot com!" Jubilation crowed jubilantly. The room froze for a second before Beth and Rogue stumbled over (knocking the chess set and Rogue's chair flying in the process) Kitty sharply scooted her chair over a foot to peer over her friend's shoulder. Illyana followed more sedately with the baby, looking, if anything, a little nervous of what Jubilee might have found.

"It's an acronym! for

Homosexuals

Appreciating

Robert

DRAKE!" Jubilee continued "Bobby has a gay fan base! BOBBY! Can you believe it!"

After a few assenting comments along the lines of 'No Way!', 'Oh mah gawd!' and 'Geez."; a stunned silence settled on the room. They sat in shock before Kitty let out a single, solitary giggle which set off a cacophony of hysterical laughter resounding through the library.

It was a while before they managed to control themselves, and Logan even left on his motorcycle as fast as it would carry him in desperation. They sat and lay there, grasping at the table or each other, trying to catch their breath. Each time they got close, one muttered something that set the rest of them off again.

Eventually Jubilee collected herself enough to gasp

"Oh I can't WAIT to see his face when we tell him!" which was enough to sober the others.

"Jubes, we can't tell Bobby." Rogue said.

"WHAT!" she all but shrieked in consternation and confusion.

"She's right. He can't find out. Can't you imagine how _humiliated_ he'd be? This isn't one of those things he'd find amusing." Beth backed her friend up. Jubes looked hopelessly to Illyana and Kitty for support

"Sorry Ju-Ju, I agree with them. It could really upset him. Especially if he found out how funny we think it is, he'd think we were laughing at _him_. He'd be so hurt. And you know he doesn't deserve that." Kitty obviously felt terrible at siding against her best friend but made her point. Jubilee sagged in defeat.

"Fine. We won't tell him." She agreed, almost sadly. But that didn't stop her from spreading the news on the student underground, and the week that followed saw the entire student body become aware of the particular website and the strict instructions not to let one of their favourite teacher get wind of it, for their sake and his. He noticed a change in them, he didn't know what caused it, but it was pretty hard to remain oblivious to the fact that a large number of the teenage mutants, could no longer look him in the eye, keep a straight face around him (even bursting into spontaneous giggling fits) or in the case of Illyana hide the furious blush that painted her cheeks fire-engine red.

But during the weekend of the discovery, another was marathon in store for the Mansion's Gossip in the form of Warren's slow seduction of a young, English single-mother.

On Saturday night, precisely at 6pm, Warren knocked on the door to Beth's room. She emerged smiling, looking beautiful in a new outfit, the result of a hard day's shopping for the occasion. For a second, he gawped before quickly collecting himself and replacing his suave, smooth air. Her straightened hair cascaded perfectly off her head, hitting her cheekbones and pooling on her bare shoulders. The strappy, empire-line top she wore was of a deep wine colour, accenting the hint of rose in her cheeks and the liquid depth of her warm brown eyes.

"You look… amazing." Warren told her, sincerely.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

"We scrub up well don't we?" he grinned as he offered her his arm. She took it, and her heels clicked as they walked down the corridor.

He whisked her away in his sleek, white sports car, and treated her to a delicious dinner in a trendy new restaurant before they arrived at the cinema for the particular film they had decided upon from the director's works. At the end of the date, they drove back to the mansion, discussing the film in depth, debating amicably. They laughed gently and made their way inside the mansion, each happy and contented, a little sleepy even. He saw her to her door and, reaching down, his hands finding her shoulders, kissed her ever so gently. She responded willingly, sliding her hands onto his waist. He pulled away and gave her a sweet, tender smile, meant only for her.

"Thank you for a lovely night." She whispered with a soft smile.

"My pleasure." He replied, in hushed tones himself, careful not to disturb the baby sleeping within "Do you prefer Ballet or Opera?"

She twisted her mouth thoughtfully for a second. "Ballet. Why?"

"Would you like to go? The Russian Ballet is touring and I can get tickets for next Friday night. Assuming someone can baby-sit of course." Warren offered

She smiled shyly, loving how special he made her feel, like a princess

"I'd love to."

"Brilliant." He grinned, still speaking softly. "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight." She replied and slipped into her room, and watched his retreating back for a second, the tips of his wings sweeping along the floor behind him, his golden hair shining under the artificial light. She closed the door and leaned back against it, sighing with a wide smile on her face. She picked up the baby monitor that Hank had been using and whispered into it

"Thank you Henry. Goodnight." And turned it off, knowing Hank couldn't reply. She opened the curtains and peered out looking at the stars, shining brightly, beautifully, bejewelling the midnight blue velvet of the night sky. She stretched languorously and creamed off her make up before changing and slipping into her soft bed. Her head settled into the pillow, her hair silky and luxurious and she snuggled down, drifting off to a deep, peaceful sleep; filled with warm, happy dreams.

She woke late the next morning, the sunshine streaming gently in through the window. She spotted a silk scarf of Rogue's over Isabelle's empty cot, a sign left to let her know where the baby was. Beth smiled. Rogue was such a good friend to her, letting her sleep in. She rolled over, stretching indulgently. She rolled back and picked her book up off the bedside cabinet. She rarely had time to read these days and she missed it. An hour or two later, came a soft tap-tap-tap on the door. Beth smiled and closed her book

"Who is it?"

"Don' worry, it's jess mih!"

"Come in then." Beth called out and Rogue entered, carrying the baby.

"So? Come ohhn, Ah'm _DYIN' _ ta know how it went! Bobby already knows an' he ain't tellin', how annoyin' is that boy! Come ohhhn!" Rogue wheedled excitedly, as she plonked herself on the bed. Beth giggled, smiling as she took Isabelle.

"Hey there my gorgeous girl!" she cooed at her daughter. She turned back to Rogue and nodded, considering "It went okay." She could see Rogue did not appreciate the shortness of that answer so she laughed and expanded. "It went very well. Warren's very nice, and he's such a gentlemen. It's a nice change." She told Rogue, cuddling the baby close

Rogue frowned a little "A nice change? Ya mean Izzy's father wasn't a nice guy?"

"Oh no, I didn't mean him! He and Warren are probably the ONLY guys I've dated who were nice and courteous and treated me well." A shadow passed over her eyes "In fact, the last guy who came onto me, before Warren, wound up trying to rape me so that just shows you the calibre of men I seem to attract." Rogue's jaw dropped.

"What!"

"It's okay, Izzy came to my rescue." Beth hastened to assure her friend. Rogue looked even more puzzled, in addition to her concern. Beth laughed, but her heart wasn't really in it. "That's how I knew she was a mutant when you guys showed up. She made this explosion and blew him off me. But anyway, that's all ancient history." She said, shaking off the mood "Let's talk about something happier!" Rogue shook her head before rolling with the subject change

"So come ohn! Tell me about last night! Ah want _all_ the details!"

A grin spread itself across Beth's face again. She sighed happily

"Oh, it was a wonderful night. He's nice, funny, smart, the food was yummy, the film was brilliant. And more than that, it was so nice to just take some time to myself and get all dolled up; to be a woman again for a change, rather than a frazzled old single mum."

"Okay sugah, single mom might be true but frazzled? Old? Ah don't think so somehow." Rogue argued

"Well that's how I feel sometimes. But anyway, the point is, I had a _fab _time and we're going to the _Ballet_ next week!" Beth told her with a big grin, Rogue squealed delightedly, Isabelle copied her

"Oooooh! Lucky!"

"I know! Isn't it wonderful!" Beth sighed happily, turning to pull faces at Isabelle, who stopped blowing bubbles to giggle at her silly mummy.

_Far, far away, Remy Le Beau, the mutant known as Gambit was creeping through anonymous, monotonous corridors. It took great skill to navigate this maze, but great skill is something he isn't short of. A door opened and he ducked around a corner, flattening himself against the wall. He felt his heart rate pick up even more than it was, already elevated. He smiled at the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He lived for this. The two men were moving down the corridor now, towards him, their conversation allowing him to track them. They were either going to turn his corner or carry on past. Either way, he saw a fight. He couldn't allow them to report the signs of his forced entry. Just as they passed him, he threw out a foot, tripping one and leaping out on top of the man, blonde and chubby. He turned to the man's companion._

"_Hey dere, how's it goin?" he quipped with a sarcastic smile and landed a punch on the taller one's face. While he stumbled back, the man underneath Remy's feet threw him off. He flowed with the movement, finding his new footing on the floor easily and picked up the blonde one from the floor and threw him into opposite wall. The blonde man's head connected with the wall as he flew into it and he lay still. The tall, dark but not handsome one jumped Gambit from behind, knowing there was no point in shouting for back-up here, the only security blind spot. Gambit stumbled back under the unexpected weight but suddenly turned a somersault, flipping the man over his head. Gambit landed on his feet, catlike, his trench coat flapping around his ankles as the man collided with the floor, hard. _

"_Well dat wasn' very nice! Didn' y' mother ever teach y' not ta jump people from behind?" Gambit said. The man groaned but struggled to his feet, not down yet. _

"_That's what you did." He argued._

"_Neh, I jumped you from the side Homme, that's different again." Gambit ran at him and slammed his foot squarely into the man's stomach. The man flew back a few feet before landing on the floor, again. He lay there, winded, coughing._

_He got to his knees and staggered to his feet, still having trouble drawing breath._

"_Mon Dieu, y' don't know when to give up! Guess we gon' tussle again." Gambit told the man with an exaggerated air of inevitability._

"_I guess we are." The man said, defiantly._

_But they were both wrong because there was an almighty **BOOM** as the bomb Gambit had planted earlier exploded. Flames mushroomed down the corridor, and Gambit threw himself backwards down the corridor he had hidden in earlier, and tumbled once. The flames licked down the entrance to his corridor but got no further and on the floor, watching, Gambit flopped back his head and caught his breath._

"_This is the life, sure 'nough." He laughed with grin._


	14. Dates and Worries

Chapter 14: Dates and Worries

The following week, Beth rose late on the Saturday, all too aware that tonight she was going to the Ballet with Warren. She sighed happily, excited at the prospect, of _a date_, let alone the ballet and with such a gorgeous young man as she was lucky enough to have found. She dressed and dropped Izzy off with Hank.

"Henry?" Beth called as she entered the Medlab, casual clothes and her hair messily swept back into a bouncy ponytail; baby settled on her hip and her baby bag slung over her other shoulder

"In here!" Hank called out, helping her locate him in his lab, his wonderland of technological gadgets and medical tools.

She stepped into the doorway of his office with a friendly smile

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Oh it fares me well, as they say. Yourself?"

"Can't complain." She told him happily.

"You seem to be in a delightful mood today. I'm very pleased to hear it." Isabelle cooed at him and gurgled a random selection of notes "Seems young Isabelle is as happy as her mother." He commented, coming over to stroke the baby's crazy hair.

"Well, I'M pleased to hear THAT. I hate leaving her when she's fussy or upset. The world would just be a better place if everyone was in a good mood more often!" she said with a cheeky grin. He smiled back at her, like a protective uncle, pleased that she was happy

"Well, I'm sure you must have a great deal to do before your excursion tonight, if I know _anything_ about the female of the species. So should you wish me to take your Little One now, I am prepared." He told her, leading the way from his office to where the cot was set up in the Medlab.

"Thank you Henry. She adores you, you know. No wonder, you're so good with her. And I think she may be doing you some good as well." She told him, poking him in his furry side "Jean agrees, she says you manage to drag yourself away to the outside world more when you have Isabelle as a reason." She smiled at her friend.

"Yes well you and your co-conspirator may think as you wish. It does not follow that thinking something makes it a truth." Was his only, enigmatic reply.

She laughed and excused herself, leaving with a kiss and a hug for her daughter and a hug and a wave for Hank.

Though he'd never admit it, personally he agreed with Jean that babysitting was doing him the world of good for getting him into the outside world around the Mansion every now and then. He couldn't help notice it wasn't doing his work any good, but as important as his work was, it could wait a day; just to see Beth having fun. As he settled Isabelle in her cot to let her play with the mobile over her head, he marvelled at how protective he felt towards the two English girls, mother and daughter. Beth was so young herself but she had handled every situation that had been thrown at her admirably well. He really did respect the way she had dealt with it all, the way she picked herself up and carried on, no matter how hard it was. His mind wandered to something else that she may well have to weather soon. The question of Isabelle's genealogy. It left Hank it quite a predicament. He could say something to her, to prepare her in the eventuality that their presently-absent team member was indeed Isabelle's father. But should he have grasped the wrong end of the stick, which was in all likelihood, a safe bet; then he had opened a can of worms that would not only affect her, the team member in question but many more besides. Rogue, her best friend, would also be affected. And everyone around them. Henry put his head in his hands. Oh, the issue was so complex, there were so many people to think about. And all he had was a name, nothing concrete to go on. He groaned.

"Problem Hankster?" asked Bobby in concern, announcing the arrival Hank hadn't even been aware of. Hank raised his head to regard his friend

"You could say that." He replied, as Bobby crossed the room to look at the baby. He smiled as he saw her there. Hank heard her gleeful, fluctuating squeal as she saw her visitor. Bobby grinned and tickled her side, causing her to kick her baby legs and laugh her bubbling baby laugh, the purest sound of delight. Bobby lifted her out and hopped up on one of the examination tables and slid back. He crossed his legs and sat the baby in the middle, supporting her with his arms each side whilst he played with her feet. She waved her arms at his and tried to crane around to see his face as he spoke to Hank.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"That, my friend, is a major part of the problem. There are doctor/patient confidentiality issues, and I am very aware of the ease with which you would guess, correctly, to whom I am referring."

"You sure? I'm not as smart as you all think, you know; I might not figure it out." Bobby cajoled as Isabelle blew raspberries at the two men. Hank chuckled half-heartedly, knowing full well Bobby _did_ have a very good brain on him, no matter how well he hid it behind his joker mask.

"I am certain you would Robert. The situation is, rather unique, to say the least. I doubt there is a person in the Mansion who would fail to surmise the reality, no matter how much unnecessary information I omitted."

"What, even Artie and Leech?" Bobby asked sceptically, trying to catch Hank out.

"Yes, I suspect even they would. They may be young, but they still know the people who live here, and many of the situations." Hank told him. Bobby whistled.

"I guess that really is one you can't talk about. It giving you much trouble?"

"More than any for a good while. It's rather complex, there are many people involved and I just can't see the way out. I truly don't know what to do for the best. And even inaction is choosing one outcome over another."

"That sounds like a real bad one. How serious is it? I mean, is it medical or…?" Bobby asked, serious for a change; seeing how heavily this weighed on his best friend's mind.

"No, nothing like that. But it is something I discovered in practising medicine: hence my reluctance to speak of it. It seems whether I raise the issue with the people involved or not, either way people will be hurt. Emotionally that is."

"Shit." Bobby commiserated "Sounds like a dilemma and a half."

"Indeed. Indeed." Hank replied thinking about person upstairs and the half in his friend's lap.

In the upper floors of the Mansion, Rogue and Beth were engrossed in selecting her outfit, right down to shoes, underwear and coordinating make up. Once they had decided, they lay everything out on the bed and added nail polish, face packs and hair treatments to the pile of cosmetics. Beth put on a face mask and took a bath in some beautifully smelling oils whilst Rogue played relaxing music and amused herself painting her own nails. She wafted her hands around; making sure the polish was perfectly dry before slipping her gloves back on. She hated that no one would see her handiwork now, but consoled herself that they would see what she did to Beth's nails. Beth emerged from the bathroom, swathed in huge white fluffy towels and smiled at her friend. Rogue smiled back

"Come ohn, let's turn ya into a princess!"

Rogue had a brilliant time exercising her makeover skills and Beth had a wonderful time being pampered. The room smelt of sweet, clean moisturiser and they commandeered Kitty's laptop to watch girlie makeover movies like Miss Congeniality as they busied themselves making sure the second and third coats of nail polish were rock hard before moving on, risking smudging. Beth waxed her legs whilst Rogue went and fixed lunch before they began the preliminary work on her hair. It wasn't often that they could spend an entire day of pampering conveniently before an important event and the girls certainly made the most of it. They lay Beth's entire wardrobe out on the bed, along with several new purchases especially for that night and began the lengthy process of selecting her outfit. When this was done, Rogue noticed something and reached out with her gloved hand and lifted Beth's necklace from her neck. It was a simple T-Bar chain with a small playing card charm dangling from on it.

"What's this sugah? Ah nevah noticed that before." Rogue enquired.

On closer inspection, she found the card to be the Ace of Hearts with a background of creamy-white enamel and a bright red heart sitting central. There were the tiniest, daintiest diamonds in the corners, next to the tiny silver 'A's.

"Oh, it's silly, I should have taken it off long ago." Beth told her friend, reaching up and removing the necklace, sliding it from her friend's grasp. "It's pathetic that I still wear it, it's just that Isabelle's father gave me it." She gave a laugh of an exhale "You know that's the first time I've taken it off since I left him." She tucked it safely away in the jewellery pouch she kept with her cosmetics, a touch of emotion in her voice.

"Ya really loved him didn't ya?" Rogue asked pensively, picking up on the undercurrent, in a moment of awareness.

"Yes. I really did. I think, a part of me, will always love him." Beth answered with difficulty "But he's not here. I have to get on with my life." She said and left the room, needing something or other from the bathroom. Rogue was left deep in thought, feeling that although she had picked up on Beth's underlying feelings; she had still missed something extremely important.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, Rogue watched as Beth worked magic, painting any imperfections away and enhancing her features with make-up. Having time to spare, Beth taught Rogue a few of her own tricks and Rogue was delighted with the result. Rogue curled Beth's hair into beautiful ringlets and then pulled them back and secured them with a jewelled clasp to prevent it looking too formal. The clasp fitted with the outfit perfectly and by the time Warren picked her up, she looked, as Rogue had predicted, like an elegant, European Princess.

As the two of them headed off to the Ballet, Rogue excitedly closed the door behind them. She leaned against it and sighed happily; in a romantic and girly mood, the result of the way she spent her day.

"Okay, who wants to watch a movie?" she announced

"What movie?" asked Bobby, at a loose end until a date of his own hours later.

"Sumthin, _romantic_!" she sighed. Bobby wrinkled his nose.

"Ugh. Still, why not, might help me understand you women. Things are still really weird with Alice."

"Awww, girlfriend trouble Drake?" Jean-Paul asked. He was rewarded with a dark look from Bobby.

"Not that it's any of _your_ business, Beaubier." Bobby glared, defensive.

"How _are _things with the flavour of the month? What exactly was wrong with your last temporary girlfriend? Tiffany, was it? No, hang on, I missed out Leanne."

"What part of 'none of your business' didn't you understand?" Bobby ground out, advancing on the Canadian threateningly.

"I was only asking-" Jean-Paul retorted.

"Now now gentlemen, there is no cause for conflict; we're all friends here." Hank jumped in to calm the situation. The boys backed down but glared half-heartedly at each other from their opposite sides of the hall.

"What 'bout ya Hank? Come ohn, ya know ya wanna join us!" Rogue cajoled and the blue furry doctor considered it for a moment.

"I'll acquiesce in this instance, if merely to keep the peace."

"Hey Beaubier, ya in or out?" Rogue demanded of the other man.

"I suppose." He said haughtily on a long suffering sigh.

"Wooo alright! Hey Speedster, race ya to the rec room!" Bobby whooped, challenged Jean-Paul to a race and took off running through the mansion; the tension of only a moment before forgotten, thanks to Bobby's wonderful good-hearted nature. Jean-Paul cocked his eyebrow, considered it then _zoomed_ through just in time to sit on the couch and watch Bobby pelt into the room. The prankster began imitating Olympic runners, bending over and pretending to catch his breath.

"Good race." He said pseudo-seriously to the other man, panting with his tongue hanging out like a dog. Jean-Paul shook his head, chuckling at the ridiculous figure the iceman acted.

Hours later, and Bobby had excused himself to meet his girlfriend of the moment, Alice; and Hank had taken the opportunity of other people being around to leave Isabelle in their care and squeeze in a little work. So only Rogue and Jean-Paul remained, having discovered they shared a love for the same kind of movies. They sat watching with few interruptions from the inquisitive infant until she began to cry with hunger. Jean-Paul, being quicker, fetched her bottle which Rogue fed her, burping her and seeing to her with tender, loving care. During this time, though she didn't notice, Jean-Paul stared out of the window, unable to look at the baby. Isabelle chose that moment to throw up down Rogue's top.

"Darn, that's gonna stain! Look after Iz fer a moment." She said, before abandoning Jean-Paul and Isabelle to fix her top and find a new one.

Jean-Paul froze. He glanced at the baby, where Rogue had snuggled her in a vaguely upright position with pillow cushions. The baby giggled at him and blew a bubble.

"Um…" Jean-Paul muttered obviously uncomfortable. He grabbed a towel and wiped her face, whilst keeping as far away from her as possible. For the next few minutes, he regarded her almost suspiciously, wanting to walk away, cool and aloof; but his parenting skills, and basic humanity, refused to allow him to leave the baby. She gurgled and wrinkled her nose and made little squealy noises at him, confused as to his lack of response. Minutes later, Rogue returned wearing a different t-shirt, carrying the dirty one and took in the situation.

"Awww Flyboy Two, she ain't gonna bite ya! Pick-er-up, she likes ya!" and with that she lifted Isabelle and plonked her in Jean-Paul's lap, before taking her stained top through to the laundry. He held her stiffly with the minimum amount of contact; his single hand supporting her head as she lay across his lap. He seemed as afraid to touch her as if she were Rogue, with a deadly touch. She blew a bubble at him and rolled over closer to his stomach, wiping her face on his shirt. She cooed into his lean abs and toppled off his lap. He caught her easily, forced now to touch her. He lifted her against his chest and sat her on the crook of his arm, supporting her back with his other hand; slipping back into the familiar pose. She reached out with her tiny arm and grabbed his ear. She gurgled and cooed again, fascinated. He found the ability to laugh and it felt as though it was being dragged up from deep inside him.

"Yeah, my ears are queer. So am I." The only reply he received was a happy gurgle and a flat palm smushing the side of his face.

_A/N – Disclaimer: I don't own the Miss Congeniality films, they belong to the movie moguls. Whilst I DO in fact own 'Beth's' necklace, I don't own the design. I bought it commercially and it inspired me to give Beth one so there we go. _


End file.
